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MILTON STEWART. 



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WICHITA, KANSAS : 
EAGLE PRINTING HOUSE, 

1888. 



fans librakyI 

jof CONGRESS 
[WASHINGTON 



ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OP CONGRESS, 
IN THE YEAR 1888, 

BY MILTON STEWART, 

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF 
CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. 



V s 



PREFATORY STATEMENT. 



When the writer of these pages was en route for 
Europe, he met the editor of the AVichita Daily Eagle 
at the Union Depot in St. Louis. It was mutually 
agreed that I should write some letters for the Eagle, 
but neither he nor I dreamed that the correspondence 
would assume such voluminous proportions as it event- 
ually attained. 

My passport was good for Europe, Asia, and Africa? 
but that we should ever set foot in the two latter coun- 
tries was extremely doubtful. 

At one time it appeared suicidal on our part to make 
the attempt to reach those countries, with cholera ram- 
pant in Sicily and Naples, and a malignant type of 
fever raging in Egypt. 

Friends earnestly plead with us at least to delay the 
trip until winter had set in, but we had "fully deter- 
mined to return home before the season had advanced 
far, with its rough and stormy seas. Hence, we ven- 
tured forth to brave other dangers, at a time when few 
Americans were reckless enough to expose themselves 
to the risk of dying in a foreign land. 

The penalty of our temerity will not be recorded in 
the pages that follow, but this much will be divulged, 
that all the expected pleasure to be derived on the re- 
turn trip, from Alexandria to London, was rendered 



IV. 

abortive by a fever that seized upon both my wife and 
myself, and made life a burden throughout that weari- 
some journey. 

This book is made up largely of the letters contrib- 
uted to the Eagle. They were written under many 
disadvantages, almost invariably by the light of a 
candle, at the close of a toilsome day's ramble. There 
were nights in Egypt and Palestine when the mosqui- 
toes were so numerous and troublesome that I was 
compelled to seek the protection afforded by the net- 
ting composing the canopy of my bed. 

Often, when others of the Cook party, on the cir- 
cular tour, were "having a good time," or at least en- 
joying that repose of mind and muscle which nature 
seems to demand, I was burning the midnight candle 
in doing that which started as a labor of love, but 
grew into a solemn, distasteful duty. 

There is scarcely a person who undertakes a pleas- 
ure tour abroad who does not start out with the inten- 
tion of keeping a diary ; and, as a rule, it is kept with 
that dogged perseverance that a confirmed smoker 
adheres to, when he has " schword off." The diaries 
kept by the mid-summer party were no exception to 
the rule. I can recall one young lady who seemed 
more persistent than the rest, and gave hopes that she, 
at least, would not fall by the way side ; but Naples 
wid Rome proved too overpowering; and as she, with 
others, " could get copies of my published letters, why 
make the effort? " 

It was something of a consolation, on my return 
home from abroad, to grasp the hands of my fellow- 
men and be told that my efforts to be entertaining 



V. 

were duly appreciated, and they " hoped I would pre- 
sent my letters in a more attractive, as well as in a 
more enduring, form." Hence, the provocation to 
place before the public another book of foreign travel 
in lands as familiar to the average reader as much of 
our own wide spreading domain. 

The Author. 



As an earnest token of my friendship and esteem, 
this volume is respectfully dedicated to Col. M. M. 
Murdock and Hon. B. W. Perkins, M. C. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Departure for Europe — Ocean Voyage — Arrival 

at Queenstown 17 

CHAPTER II. 

The City of Cork— Fifty Years Behind the Times 
— Shandon Bells — Blarney Castle — Kissing the 
Blarney Stone "Over the Left," — Lord Carew 

the Victim of "Soft Sawder" 23 

CHAPTER III. 

The Bogs of Ireland — The Town of Killarney — 
The Annual Exodus — Tore Cascade — The Devil's 
Punchbowl — Muckross Abbey — " Sweet Peggy ".. 29 
CHAPTER IV. 

The Two Pats — Kate Kearney — Arbutus Wood and 
Bog Oak Bric-a-Brac — Preparing to Mount — The 
Colleen Bawn — The Last Snake Killed by St. 
Patrick — The Gap of Dunloe — The Mountain 
Nymphs — The Lamentable Wickedness of Tour- 
ists, from a Prohibition Standpoint — The Black 
Valley — Lord Brandon's Cottage — The Lakes of 
Killarney— The Old Weir Bridge— Ross Castle... 36 
CHAPTER V. 

Dublin — Stephen's Green — Phoenix Park — Glas- 
nevin — Bank of Ireland — Cathedral of St. Patrick 
—The Tram-car 43 



VIII. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Boyne — A Modern Chesterfield, " Quite Eng- 

' lishYou Know,"— Were They Ladies?— Belfast 
— A Scotch City on Irish Soil — Spiritually Dis- 
posed — A Linen Factory 49 

CHAPTER VII. 

From Ireland to Scotland — The Clyde — Glasgow — 
St. Mungo Cathedral — The Land of Burns — Tarn 
O'Shanter and Souter Johnny on Top — Edin- 
burgh — The Castle — Mons. Megs — The Regalia of 

Scotland — The Grave of John Knox 56 

CHAPTER VIII. 

From Scotland to England — The Ride to London 
Town — The Search for Quarters — The Pastry 
Cooks, " One by One the Roses Fall," — Cheap 
Cab Fare — The London 'Buss — The Underground 
Railway — The Closing Wedge — London by Gas 

Light — A Shrewd Manager 63 

CHAPTER IX. 

The American Exhibition — The Tail Wags the 
Dog— Buffalo " William "—The Cowboys— The 
Pony that Bucketh — The American Saloon — Pop 
Corn and Taffy, Novelties amongst our British 
Cousins — The Festive Peanut Keeps up with the 
Procession — The Royal Tournament — Royalty on 

Deck 69 

CHAPTER X. 

The Queen's Jubilee 74 

CHAPTER XL 

The Tower of London — The Ci*own Jewels — The 
Horse Armory — St. Paul's Cathedral — Hand- 



IX. 

some Statuaiy — The Tomb of Wellington — The 

Last Resting Place of Admiral Nelson 80 

CHAPTER XII. 

Folkestone — The Eton Suit {see illustration) — 
Montague House School — A Chapter on Mental 
and Physical Education — A Sail on the English 

Channel 87 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The British and Kensington Museums — National 
Gallery of Paintings — Madam Tussaud's Wax 

Works — The Chamber of Horrors 95 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Regent's Park — Zoological Gardens -*- " Sal ly " — 
Hyde Park — Rotten Row — The Albert Memorial 
— Kensington Gardens — Birthplace of the Queen 
— Kew Gardens — Down the Thames — Greenwich 
— Marine Museum — The Painted Ceiling — A 
Painting by Benjamin West — St. James' Park — 
Victoria Park — The Parks the Glory of Lon- 
don 106 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Arrival in London of a Kansan M. C. — The 
"Cook" Party — A Day at the Crystal Palace — 
Pyrotechnics Unsurpassed — A Ride to Hampton 
Court, and What is to be Seen in this Ancient 
Abode of Royalty— An Evening's Ride on the 

Thames 113 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Blaine of Maine — Minister Phelps — The British 
Parliament — Royal Courts of Justice — The Tab- 
ernacle — Rev. C. H. Spurgeon — Christ Church — 



X. 

Rev. Newman Hall — Temple Church — The Grave 

of Oliver Goldsmith 121 

CHAPTER XVII. 

From England to Belgium — The Composition of the 
Cook Party — The Harwich Route to Belgium — 
Antwerp, the City of the Cut-off Hand — Visit to 
the Cathedral — Rubens — Quentin Massys — Van 

Dyck— Teniers 128 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Arrival in the Capital of Belgium — The City Hall 
— A Marriage Ceremony — Palais de la Nation — 
The Lower House in Session — An M. C. Views 
its Sittings — Lace Making as a Fine Art — The 
Wiertz Museum — Palace of Fine Arts 136 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Waterloo 143 

CHAPTER XX. 

From Belgium to Germany — Brussels to Cologne — 
" Tariff for Revenue Only "—The Church of St, 
Ursula — The Sacred Relics — Up the Rhine — No 
Exaggeration Here — " Fair Bingen on the Rhine " 
— Wiesbaden — Frankfort-on-the-Main — Darm- 
stadt 153 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Heidelberg — Visit to the Grandest Ruins in Europe 
— The University — The Stop Over at Wirzburg — 
—The Night Ride to Munich— The Great Capital 
City of Bavaria — The Old and New Pinakothek 
— The King's Palace — Some Fine Paintings — A 
Murillo (see illustration) — The Gate of Victory 
— The Hall of Fame — Bronze Statue of Bavaria 
— Hof-brauhaus — An Obelisk 160 



XI. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

From German}^ through Austria into Italy — Cross- 
ing the Alps — The Tyrolese — Verona, the Home of 
the Montagues and Capulets — Tomb of Romeo 
and Juliet— The Balcony— Tomb of the Scaligers 
— Trajan's Amphitheatre 172 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Venice by Moonlight 178 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

How They Used to do It — A Regatta — The Square 
of St. Mark — The Pigeons — The Patron Saint of 
Venice — Church of St. Mark — Palace of the 
Doges — Climbing the Golden Stair — The Prison 
of Pozzi— The Bridge of Sighs 183 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Through the Apeninnes to Florence — The Guelphs 
and Ghibelines — The Mosaics of Florence — The 
Drives — Giotto's Bell Tower— The Cathedral — 
Church of St. Croce— Tombs of Michael Angelo, 
Galileo, and Macchiavelli — The Medici Family — 
The TJffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace— The Tables 
of Fabulous Value 192 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Through Rome to Naples— The Colosseum by Moon- 
light — The Appian Way — Monte Cassino — Capua 
— A Conscientious Young Lady — The Ascent of 
Mount Vesuvius— A Grapple With Incipient 
Cholera — "See Naples and Die! " — At the Crater 
of Vesuvius — Herculaneum — Pompeii — St. Elmo 
— The Museum of Naples — The Island of Ischia.197 

\ 



XII. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Return to the Eternal City — Ancient and Modern 
Rome— Prof. S. R. Forbes— The Town Site of 
Romulus — The Rape of the Sabines — History Re- 
peating Itself, on a Reduced Scale — The Palace 
of the Emperors — Basilica Explained — Bathing 
Houses — The Old Roman Forum — The Assassi- 
nation of Julius Csesar — His Temple Tomb 206 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
The Arches of Rome— "S. P. Q. R."— Egyptian 
Obelisk— The Bridges of the Tiber— The Pan- 
theon — Sabbath Breakers and the Worship of 
Bacrchus — Church of St. Maria Maggiore — Snow 
in August — St. Luke as a Painter 281 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Mother of Churches — The Bronze Doors of the 
Old Senate — Scala Santa — The Catacombs — 
Tomb of St. Cecilia — Circus of Maxentius — St. 
Peter's at Last — Doubtful Stories of St. Peter and 
St. Paul — The Sistine Chapel — Galleries and Mu- 
seum of the Vatican — The Gorgeous Church of 
St. Paul 227 

CHAPTER XXX. 

From Rome, to Northern Italy — Elba and Corsica — 
Pisa, its Leaning Tower, Cathedral and Baptistry 
— The Campo Santo — The American " Bell Ring- 
ers "—Pisa's Chief Industry—Turin, its Lovely 
Climate— A Thunder Storm in Lombardy— Jour- 
ney to Milan— At the Opera— The Divine Right 
to Hiss duly Exercised— A Dry Orchestra— The 
Grand Cathedral of Milan— Royal Palace— Church 



XIII. 

of St. Ambrose with its Brazen Serpent — Da 
Vinci's— The Last Supper---The Relic Hunters on 
a Raid— Soldier's Barracks— Milan's Arch— Napo- 
leon's Amphitheatre 237 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
From Italy into Switzerland— Lake Como— St. Goth- 
ard Tunnel— Lucerne— Lake of the Four Cantons 
— Up the Rigi— The Hard Lines of the Swiss 
Peasant— The Land of Tell— Thorswalden's Lion. 249 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

By Steamer to Alpnock— A Carriage Ride to Brienz 
—The Bernese Costume— The Falls of Giessbach— 
An Illumination — Interlaken — The Jungfrau — An 
Old Wichita Boy— The Glaciers— The Syrens of 
the Ice Grotto— A Truant Pair— A Dream 258 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

From Interlaken to Berne— The City Whose Tute- 
lary Goddess is a Bear— From Berne to Lausanne, 
thence to Ouchy — On Lake Lehman — Vernayaz— 
The Gorge-du-Trient— The Ride Over the Tete 
Xoire Pass— A Savoyard Jehu — An Hour in Ely- 
sium — A Mountain Vehicle 265 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Arrival at Chamounix — Mont Blanc— The Unvailing 
of de Saussure's Statue— Another Illumination — 
The Ride to Geneva 271 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

Geneva— The Grave of Calvin— Farewell to Switz- 
erland— En Route to Paris 277 



XIV. 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Americans in Paris — Starting Out to See the Sights 
—The Grand Opera House— The Madeline— Place 
de la Concorde— Hotel des Invalides— Tomb of 
Napoleon— The Palace of the Elysee— The Arc de 
Triomphe— Trocadero Palace— Champ de Mars- 
Exhibition of 1889 282 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

A Convenient Method of Sight Seeing— A Collision — 
A Reminiscence of Rome — The Bastile — Pere la 
Chaise— The Churches of Paris— Lost in St. Sul- 
pice— Another Reminiscence of the Eternal City.. 289 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Paris, Continued — ,The Column Vendome — The 
Louvre and Luxembourg — Versailles — A Sevres 
Pottery — Gobelin Tapestries— The Disintegration 
of the Cook Party— The Perils of the English 
Channel— We Have Swung Round the Circle 302 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Stratford-on-Avon — Stoke Pogis — Eton College — 
Windsor Castle— Westminister Abbey 311 

CHAPTER XL. 

Departure for the Orient— Stop Over in Folkestone — 
Paris and Turin— A Xocturnal Episode— Arrival 
in Genoa— The Various Churches in the City of 
Palaces 322 

CHAPTER X*LI. 
We Pay Our Respects to Some of the Palaces of 
Genoa— Something of Christopher Columbus 328 



XV. 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Genoa's Campo Santo— On the Mediterranean Out- 
ward Bound— The Two Storms at Sea— Arrival 
at Alexandria 335 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

The City of Cleopatra— The Egyptians at Home— 
Pompey's Pillar — The Buffalo Cow — A Walk 
Through the Bazaars— Tobacco, a Genius of Both 

Good and Evil— A Page of Ancient History 344 

CHAPTER XLIV. 
From Alexandria by Steamer to Port Said and 
thence to Jaffa— The House of Simon the Tanner 
— The Rock of Andromeda— The American Col- 
ony— Lydda— St. George and the Dragon— Ramleh 

—The High Way to Jerusalem 356 

CHAPTER XLV. 

Impressions of Jerusalem 371 

CHAPTER XL VI. 
The Holy Sepulchre— The Greek Festival of the 

Holy Fire 381 

CHAPTER XL VII. 
The Ccenaculum— Garden of Gethsemane — The So- 
called Mosque of Omar 390 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 
The Tombs of the Prophets — Tophet — Rachel's 

Tomb— Solomon's Pools— Bethlehem 403 

CHAPTER XLIX. 
Departure for Jericho — The Dead Sea and River 
Jordan— The Brook Cherith— Jordan is a Hard 
Road to Travel— A Xovel Recipe for a Salad 416 



XVI. 

CHAPTER L. 

The Three Jerichos— Elisha's Fountain— The Mount 
of Temptation — Salt Moonshiners — " On Jordan's 
Stormy Banks I Stand" 427 

CHAPTER LI. 

Farewell to the Holy City— The Back Track to Jaffa 
— Arrivalat Port Said 436 

CHAPTER LII. 
The Suez Canal— Ismalia— By Rail to Cairo— Egypt- 
ian Customs 448 

CHAPTER LIII. 

Grand Cairo 455 

CHAPTER LIY. 

Museum of Bulak— The Two Mies— Poem by Col. 
M. M. Mur dock— The Pharaoh of the Oppression. 466 

CHAPTER LY. 

The kilometer— Mohammedan Mosques— Citadel- 
Coptic Church— The Howling Dervishes— The Re- 
turn from the Caaba 474 

CHAPTER LVI. 

Heliopolis— The Story of Joseph— Visit to the Pyra 
mids of Gizeh— The Sphinx 485 

CHAPTER LVII. 

Statue of Rameses (see illustration) — The Site of 
Ancient Memphis— Sakkarah— The Tomb of Apis 
—The Last Dinner— Finis. 493 



FROM NILE TO NILE, 



CHAPTEE I. 



THE DEPARTURE FOR EUROPE OCEAN VOYAGE ARRIVAL 

AT QUEENSTOWN. 



For many years the one unvarying dream of my 
life was a voyage to foreign lands. It was my ambi- 
tion to stand in the presence of the surviving works 
of the old masters in the schools of art; to walk 
amidst the ruins of hoary antiquity ; to travel over the 
same rough highways trod by the sandaled feet of the 
Savior of mankind ; to climb the giddy steps that lead 
to the apex of Cheops, and from this coigne of vantage 
trace the serpentine course of Egypt's Nile, upon 
whose fertile banks nourished a high order of civiliza- 
tion at the time Noah was getting out the timbers for 
the building of the ark. 

Thus you will readily see that I was not seized by 
any sudden whim to sail " 'neath alien skies." My air- 
castles were simply materializing into veritable castles 

2 



18 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

on the Rhine ; and in April, 1887, their full realization 
went into effect when I bade adieu to the Peerless 
Princess of America's Nile, and set out upon a journey 
faithfully detailed in the pages that follow. The trip 
across the continent to New York and thence to En- 
gland was to be a family affair, the party consisting of 
myself, my wife, and the sole surviving fruit of our 
union, Master Charlie, over whose closely cropped poll 
eight brief and, I trust, cloudless summers had passed. 

We spent a few delightful days, en route, in south- 
western Pennsylvania, amidst the scenes of my boy- 
hood; and after waiting the usual length of time in 
New York, recommended in order to get a " good 
ready," with some sinking of the heart went aboard 
the good Cunard steamer that was to be responsible for 
our safe delivery to that lovely shore where the sham- 
rock is discovered with a field-glass, and shillalahs are 
grown as souvenirs for American tourists at the rate of 
one thousand dollars per cord. 

The crowd that stood on the wharf at New York to 
say good-by to departing friends numbered over two 
thousand people. It was a grand sight to look down 
into their tearful faces from the deck of our steamer; 
and even when we were far out in the bay some sad 
heart still lingered on the shore, and doubtless re- 
mained there until the Umbria was but a speck upon 
the horizon. 

We had, on the whole, a comfortable passage. For 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 19 

about three days we sailed on summer seas, then the 
wind shifted, bringing fog for a brief spell, followed by 
a sea that ran high and rocked our immense craft till 
it was veritably a cradle of the deep. Fortunately for 
us, we had fully got our sea legs before the rough 
weather set in, and, I am proud to say, escaped the 
discomforts of sea-sickness. The Umbria, as a safe, 
speedy, and comfortable boat stands in high favor with 
sea-going people. She is five hundred and twenty feet 
long, of proportionate breadth and depth, of eight 
thousand tons' burden, and sailing capacity of twenty 
miles an hour. Her officers and crew number about 
two hundred and seventy-five men. About everything 
that human ingenuity can devise for the comfort and 
convenience of travelers seems to have been provided 
in the equipment of this vessel. The upholstering and 
general finish of the inside will compare favorably with 
the Pullman sleeping, palace and dining car. Each 
state-room has an electric bell and incandescent elec- 
tric light. You can have meals and liquid refresh- 
ments served in your rooms without extra charge, and 
books from the library to while away pleasantly, lying 
in bed, such hours as confinement would otherwise 
render tedious and unprofitable. 

The steamer chair was a revelation to me. Each 
passenger purchases one before embarking. At the 
end of the voyage it is stored with the company until 
the return trip. These chairs are used exclusively on 



20 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the upper deck; and in fine weather, when the sea is 
smooth as glass and the temperature up in the seven- 
ties, I know of no greater luxury on land, or on water, 
for the matter of that, than to recline on one of these 
chairs and, rocked by the gentle motion of the boat, 
lulled into half-forgetfulness by the swish, swish, of 
the waves through which it cleaves a passage, feel that 
the waters of Lethe are no longer to be coveted. The 
great discomforts of sea-sickness can be reduced to a 
minimum by reclining at ease in your state-room when 
a rough sea is on and the boat is inclined to touch only 
in high places, or soar sideways like a swallow in mid- 
air. 

With a comparatively smooth sea, every hour of 
daylight should be spent on deck ; and the promenade, 
if vigorously prosecuted, will develope a tendency to 
sharpen the appetite, without which one will stand a 
poor show of getting the worth of his money on this 
trip. We reached the end of our ocean voyage on the 
seventh day out, and at two o'clock in the morning 
descended from the palatial Cunarder, at anchor off 
Queenstown, to a nameless tug that bore us slowly, in 
the teeth of a cold, driving rain, to the custom house. 

There were some sixty of us who left the Umbria 
and stood in the pelting storm underneath our um- 
brellas, cabinless and fireless, in the gray dawn, 
through the intervening distance of four miles from 
the anchorage of the Umbria to the landing at Queens- 



FROM XILE TO NILE. 21 

town; nearly, if not quite, all were Americans. I 
infer this from the fact that if they had been English 
tourists landing in America their curses would have 
been loud and deep at such lack of accommodation. 
As they were Americans, they stood and took it with- 
out a perceptible murmur. Now, you may believe that 
or not, just as you choose. 

The passenger list of the TTmbria contained over 
seven hundred names. After we left her she weighed 
anchor, and with the great bulk of her passengers 
stowed away in their berths asleep, steamed rapidly on 
her way to Liverpool, and was soon lost to sight. 

Well, we landed at Queenstown, a city of, say, ten 
thousand inhabitants, built on the side of a high range 
of. hills that slope down into Queenstown harbor. Of 
course, we pushed our way, like a lot of cattle, over the 
gang-plank, into the custom house, and went through 
the form of having our baggage examined. I chanced 
to have a French dictionary in my valise, and the 
officer viewed it side wise, lengthwise, and upside down 
until I was tempted to make him a present of it. 
Then he tackled the intricacies of a Saratoga trunk of 
the latest combination, warranted to be proof against 
the most scientific efforts of the baggage smasher. 
Having discovered amongst our effects nothing of a 
contraband nature, our " luggage," as it is here called, 
received the white cross, and being hoisted on the 



22 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

shoulders of human beasts of burden, instead of trucks, 
followed us as we passed out and stood for the first 
time on foreign soil. 



CHAPTER II. 



CORK BLARXEY CASTLE. 



After getting a clearance from the custom honse at 
Queenstown, we purchased railway tickets for Cork, 
distant some twelve or fifteen miles, and before the 
sun had had time to dispel the thin ocean mist we 
were steaming away through a landscape of surpassing 
loveliness, until the train ran into the tunnel at Cork, 
and then backed into the quaint old depot of that- 
quaint old city. I suppose by the time I have finished 
this tour, much of the freshness belonging to an inex- 
perienced traveler will have worn off. I question if 
ever I shall so thoroughly enjoy one day's sight seeing 
with the same amount of zest and appreciativeness as 
I did this, my first day in Ireland. With my eyes 
shut it was hard to realize that the broad Atlantic lay 
between me and my native land, but with eyes and 
ears open, the evidence that I was in the land where 
the shamrock and shillalah flourish was so convincing 
as to need no assurance of its reality. 

I can remember the time when there were no electric 
lights or electric bells in our first-class hotels ; when 



24 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

there were no street cars in onr large cities. I can go 
that one better : I can even remember the days when 
the " tallow dip" gave light to the world, long ante- 
dating the general use of kerosene. I confess, then, I 
was struck with amazement when I found my chamber 
dimly illuminated by two common candles ; not so 
dimly, however, but that I could read a notice on the 
wall, cautioning guests against the " nefarious and 
dangerous habit of reading in bed," which was as grim 
a piece of sarcasm as though it had read: " Do not blow 
the light out, use the snuffers." Of course, Mrs. S. could 
not endure the candles, and in searching for the elec- 
tric button to summon the bell boy she came in contact 
with a cord thick enough and strong enough to hold a 
three year old colt. When I had demonstrated to her 
the utter futility of continuing her search for the but- 
ton, and the wisdom of jerking the cord, a smart 
Bridget appeared in answer to the tinkle of a bell at 
the other end of the rope, who made it perfectly plain, 
in the course of time, that a kerosene lamp was a 
curiosity in Cork. After kerosene has been admitted 
and prepared the way, possibly gas may follow, to 
be superseded, in its turn, by electric lights. 

It did seem odd that in a city of ninety-seven 
thousand inhabitants, there should be, toward the 
close of the nineteenth century, no street cars. The 
nearest substitute (only in cheapness and convenience) 
is the Irish jaunting car, a one-horse, two- wheeled 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 25 

vehicle, without cover, the seats on the side capable 
of holding four persons besides the driver. The latter 
sits on an elevated seat fronting the horse ; the passen- 
gers, with their backs to each other. Over smooth 
roads, such as you find in Ireland, and for a short 
distance, they are at least endurable. The two- 
wheeled cab is also at your service, but the jaunting 
car is distinctly Irish, one of the institutions of the 
country to be found nowhere else, and should not 
be slighted. 

In the older portions of the city the streets are 
narrow and crooked, mere alleys, you might say; 
and here you find, in old and dilapidated dwellings, 
squalor and want, to all appearance no better 
than the Chinese quarters in San Francisco, and 
so far as poverty in all its abjectness is concerned, a 
few degrees worse than had ever come under my 
observation. Americans, from their well known liber- 
ality, are subject, more than any other visitors, to the 
importunities of professional beggars. They seem to 
lie in wait for you; and, whether walking or riding, 
street gamins, big, barefooted girls, with unkempt hair 
and garments in tatters, decrepit old men and women, 
the lame, blind and halt are ever with you. 

The principal modern streets are wide and well 
paved. St. Patrick's and the Grand Parade were full 
of life and bustle as I threaded my way through them 
on Saturday evening. There were more people on the 



26 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

sidewalk than one would see on Broadway, New York. 
The British soldier formed a large and striking ele- 
ment amongst the pedestrians. The handsome, neat- 
fitting scarlet coats of the infantry, the dark blue, 
trimmed with yellow, of the cavalry, and the white 
waists, green plaid kilts, bare knees and white leggings 
of the Highlanders, lent all the coloring and variety 
to the picture that the artist's eye could desire. There 
are no less than three regiments of troops stationed 
here, and the Irish have no love for them, you may be 
assured. There are a number of fine buildings in 
various parts of the city, principally churches, and 
one cathedral. Father Matthew, of whom there is a 
fine statue in St. Patrick Street, founded Shandon 
Church, which stands with its curious tower on quite 
an elevation overlooking much of the city. Its chime 
of bells, " Shandon Bells," is known all over the 
world. 

' ' With deep affection 
And recollection 
I often think on 

Those Shandon bells, 
Whose sounds so wild would, 
In the days of my childhood, 
Fling 'round my cradle 

Their magic spells." 

It is said that William Penn became a convert in 

Cork to the doctrine and faith of the Society of Friends, 

or Quakers. He and eighteen others were imprisoned 

here at one time. Five miles out from the city, over 

one of the most picturesque drives in the world, is 



FROM NTLE TO XILE. 27 

" Blarney Castle." As I stood on the top of this an- 
cient ruin, and touched with my hand the " blarney 
stone," upheld by an iron clamp below the parapet, one 
hundred and ten feet from the ground ; as I examined 
its massive walls, fifteen feet in thickness, and looked 
out from its many embrasures and port-holes ; as I de- 
scended the winding stairway whose steps were first 
worn smooth by native Irish freemen more than four 
hundred years ago ; as I entered its caves and dun- 
geons and stood on the stone floor of its prison house ; 
as I gazed in wonderment and measured with the eye 
the superb cut stone mantel of its huge dining hall, I 
was not slow in agreeing with an assertion from my 
better half, that to see this was well worth a trip across 
the Atlantic. 

Kissing the " blarney stone " without the aid of one 
or two strong assistants is a feat that requires the 
nerve of a bold buccaneer. I went there with the 
courage of a lion. When I looked at the green grass 
beneath me, full one hundred and ten feet, I shuddered 
to think what my fate would be if I grew dizzy and 
lost my balance in reaching over the open space inter- 
vening between my reclining body and the kissing spot. 
My leonine courage, like that of Bob Acres, began to 
ooze out at my finger ends. 

' ' There is a stone there 
That whoever kisses 
Oh ! he never misses 
To grow eloquent. 



28 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

'Tis he may clamber 
To a lady's chamber, 
Or become a member 
Of parliament. 

A clever spouter 
He'll turn out, or 
An out and outer 
To be let alone. 

Don't hope to hinder him, 
Or to bewilder him ; 
Sure he's a pilgrim 

From the ' blarney stone. ' ' ' 

It is related that Blarney Castle was besieged in 
medieval times by the English under Lord Carew. 
The Lord of Blarney, Cormac McCarthy, agreed to 
capitulate, but through numberless excuses, fair prom- 
ises, and flattering words managed to circumvent 
completely the commander of the English, who be- 
came the laughing-stock thereby at the court of Queen 
Bess for being so easily duped; and thus " blarney " 
came into use as a term synonymous with flattery. 
How and when the custom of kissing this stone orig- 
inated is a question the answer to which I have sought 
in vain. 



CHAPTER III. 



KILLARNEY. 



We traveled direct by rail from Cork to Killarney. 

Betwen Mallow, where we left the main line, and 

Killarney, the " bogs of Ireland " were encountered 

for the first time. The natives were at work here 

preparing their yearly supply of fuel. The turf, which 

is cut with a spade adapted to the purpose, to a depth 

of from two to three feet, is spread out over the 

ground to dry. It varies in color from a deep black 

to a tan, burns like our "buffalo chips," and emits a 

similar odor. Peat bogs, which are not confined 

exclusively to Ireland but are found in various parts 

of Europe, as well as in America, are thus described 

in a recent work on Europe : * 

"Between Gal way and Sligo ba} r s, on the west coast 
of Ireland, is a large shoulder of land extending into 
the Atlantic. Lines drawn from the northern and 
southern extremities of this projection across to the 
east, would measure off a belt of country known as 
the bog region of Ireland. Nearly all of this strip 
is marsh} T ground, covered with a growth of mosses, 
lichens, heaths and grasses. Underneath these living 



*E. T. Benedict. 



30 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

carpets lie the decaying roots and leaves of former 
growths, imbedded in mnd, and kept continually wet 
by the moist climate. 

"In some places this rank growth has choked up 
shallow lakes and ponds, in others it has spread over 
good ground, converting it into bogs. It is not un- 
common to see a large patch of bog itself moving along 
as if on rollers. Water has collected under it until it 
comes to a level meadow where it stops and begins to 
grow. 

" A few years ago the people in the neighborhood 
of the great Slogan bog were alarmed, one day, by 
several loud reports, like discharges of artillery or 
claps of thunder, coming from the bog. Then, to their 
astonishment, they saw an immense field of turf mov- 
ing slowly toward the road. In a few minutes it had 
covered the road for a distance of fifty rods, and con- 
tinued on toward the river Main, nearly choking up 
its channel. 

" When these rank masses have obtained a footing 
they begin to increase in depth. New leaves come out 
on top of the old ones each year, and, supplied with 
abundant moisture, gather quantities of mud, and 
thus the mud goes on thickening and deepening. As 
the depth increases, the decaying fibres disappear and 
the moss becomes black, until, near the bottom, peat 
is formed. This substance, when dried, resembles soft 
coal and makes very good fuel." 

The furze bushes that grew along the sod fences and 

in unsightly places were in full bloom, their bright 

yellow flowers harmonizing aesthetically with the 

green lanceolated leaves, combining the two sunflower 

colors so popular with the admirers of Oscar Wilde, 

and recalling to mind the English proverb that 

4 ' Love is out of season 

When the furze is not in bloom. 7 ' 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 31 

The white and red thorns were likewise clad in gala 
costume. The lay of the land was beautiful until we 
approached Killarney, the mountains here almost en- 
circling this delightful pleasure resort. We found here 
a town of about six thousand people. The hotels, four 
or five in number, are good of their kind, depending 
almost wholly for their support upon the patronage of 
tourists. Strolling through the town, I could not help 
noticing the evidences of poverty. Aside from the 
shopmen, the people seemed to have nothing to do, 
and they swarmed in the principal street as though it 
had been a holiday. Sitting at breakfast the next 
morning, I noticed a motley throng making their way 
to the depot ; bareheaded and barefooted women and 
children by the score, old men and young, donkey 
carts with boxes and bedding, one-horse carts and 
jaunting cars, women carrying boxes, scurrying past 
as though fleeing from the plague. Pretty soon I 
ascertained that about one hundred of them were 
emigrating to America, where all Irishmen hope to go. 
So I joined the promiscuous gathering at the depot, 
just before train time, and I witnessed a sight, perhaps 
very common in Ireland, but strange indeed to me. 
Nearly half of the populace of the town had gathered 
here to say good-by to the lucky one hundred, and 
unite their voices in loud lamentation at their bereave- 
ment, for the aged people all regard such a parting in 
the same light as a separation by death, and to them 



32 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

it is absolutely so. The picture is of too sacred a 
nature to make sport of, and yet, as I mixed in that 
Hibernian crowd, heard the parting words, looked into 
the sad, tear-stained, swollen faces, saw the men em- 
brace each other, and even bid good-by to the fellows 
composing their own party, these and other things too nu- 
merous to mention, made it all appear like a huge 
farce in a play. Poor souls ! there was tragedy enough 
in it for them. 

This district of Killarney has been described as the 
Mecca of every pilgrim in search of the sublime and 
picturesque in nature. It is celebrated in song and 
story, and its legends are of that grotesque order char- 
acteristic of Hibernia. At Cork we fell in with the 
ex-colonel of a Missouri regiment and his amiable wife, 
and joined forces, designing to make the tour together. 
After transcribing our names on the register of the 
railway hotel, the Colonel set out in search of a car 
driver who had been recommended to him as a gradu- 
ate in his line of business. His name was Pat Healy, 
and no namesake of his in America need have any 
scruples in claiming relationship. What Pat does not 
know about this country there is no use in ransacking 
the guide books to find out. He was not hard to un- 
earth, and in the least possible time had us all aboard 
his jaunting car and clattering down the smooth turn- 
pike road, hemmed in by high stone walls covered 
with ivy, and over-shadowed by ancient yew and beech 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 33 

trees. Women, with articles of hand-made lace, and 
trinkets carved from bog oak, sprang into the road and 
urged us to buy their wares. Some asked openly for 
alms, but we were getting hardened and sped onward, 
stopping at length at the entrance to Tore Cascade, 
where an old hag, in the goats' milk business, gave me 
such a blessing for interfering in a deal Avith the small 
boy, that if there had been any potenc}^ in her vile bil- 
lingsgate the earth would have opened and swallowed 
me up. Here we dismounted and walked a quarter of 
a mile through a beautiful glen to where the waters 
from Tore Mountain come down as they do at Lodore. 
Retracing our footsteps we are off again, this time 
through a gate into the domain of an extensive land 
owner, paying our shilling a head to the gate keeper 
for admittance. We are, apparently, hemmed in by 
mountains, whose tops are hidden from us by mist. 
Pat says it is the steam from the " Devil's Punch Bowl." 
As we emerge from the timber our eyes are greeted by 
a sight they have longed to see for many a year, the 
lakes of Killarney. 

They are three in number, the nearest one to us be- 
ing the middle, or Muckross lake. Skirting the shore 
for some distance, we come to Muckross Abbey, 
founded by the McCarthys in 1440. The abbey, now 
in ruins, was built by them on the foundations of a 
much older structure, destroyed by fire in 1192. The 
ruin consists of a church and convent, and within its 



34 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

walls are a number of graves, said to be mostly the 
graves of the McCarthys, who were once princes of this 
land. For a ruin, the abbey is in a good state of pres- 
ervation, and the guide will point you out the choir, 
nave, transept, tower, and cloister. The cloisters are 
nearly perfect. In the center of the square stands a 
venerable yew tree, perfectly sound and as symmet- 
rical as if carefully pruned. It is said to be as old as 
the abbey itself. Peering into one of the sepulchers, 
where a stone had given away, we discovered two cof- 
fins, one on top of the other, both falling into decay. 
The upper one had borne down heavily on the one be- 
neath, crushing out the corner, from which a grinning 
skull had rolled. The Colonel says he saw that skull 
in his dreams all night long, and my wife says it paid 
her several nocturnal visits. From here we drove past 
the fine modern mansion of Mr. Herbert, the landed 
proprietor, who is now sojourning in Kansas. As we 
emerge from this domain into the turn-pike we encoun- 
ter an Irish maid driving a diminutive donkey in a 
cart. Pat, giving us a knowing wink, goes into a 
rhapsody, so expressive of the scene that I must re- 
produce it. I heard it sung when I was a boy, but will 
not vouch for this as a correct version : 



When I first met sweet Peggy 
'Twas on a market day ; 

On a low-back car she sat, 
All on a truss of hay, 
As she sat on a low-back car. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 35 

And the man of the turn-pike bar 
Clutched the chicken 
That Peggy was pickin' 

As she sat on the low-back car." 



CHAPTEE IV. 



GAP OF DTJXLOE LAKES OF KILLARXEY. 



The next day after our visit to Muckross Abbey, the 
services of our new Hibernian friend, Pat Healy, and 
his jaunting car were again brought into requisition, 
and as the drive before us was a long one, and over a 
road somewhat hilly, it was deemed expedient to hire 
more transportation. As Pat belouged, by right of 
discovery, to the Colonel, I was forced to dispense 
with his valuable services ; not, however, until he had 
secured for me another Pat, descended from that long 
line of Irish lords and princes, the McCarthys. As a 
genuine specimen of the south country Irishman, so 
far as native wit and efficiency as a guide are con- 
cerned, he was not a whit behind the other Pat. He 
pointed out all objects of interest on the route as we 
bowled along, relating legend after legend, and anec- 
dotes, sometimes in poetry, sometimes in prose, until 
we reached the hut where Kate Kearney was born, 
and the mountain side where she attended her goats. 
" She was the purtiest girl in all Ireland," he said, 
" when she stood on the mountain top, forninst the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 37 

house, her hair reached to the fut of it, near two thou- 
sand fate." Another Kate Kearney, a grand daughter 
of her whom Moore lias immortalized, and herself a 
grandmother, now lives here and dispenses " mountain 
dew " to her customers. Pat's definition of mountain 
dew was, " whisky and goat's milk." She is a comely 
looking old lady, and when I purchased a photograph 
of her humble abode, with herself in the doorway, she 
gave me a genuine blessing. Before arriving at the 
Kearney Cottage, however, we were confronted, at an 
ancient stone bridge, by a rough looking crowd of men 
and boys on horseback (that reminded me of a squad 
of bushwhackers) from which the guides were to be 
selected to conduct us on horseback through the Gap 
of Dunloe. This meant that our party of five (two 
men, two women, and a boy) was to leave the jaunting 
cars at a certain point, and mount these miserable 
ponies for a ride of four miles through the mountain 
pass. The guides would walk, and return after con- 
ducting us through the pass to the upper lake. The 
two Pats would also return the way we came, and 
meet us in the evening at Ross Castle on Lough Leane, 
or the lower of the three Lakes of Killarney. We 
were to dismount at Lord Brandon's cottage, and there 
enter a two-oared skiff for a ride of fifteen miles 
through the lakes. 

From the time we left Kate Kearney's cottage 
we were beset by beggars, the most persistent in their 



38 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

demands, I think, I have ever met. At the entrance 
to the Gap of Dunloe was a small hamlet. Here we 
dismounted from the jaunting cars, and were invited 
by a lady, neatly dressed, to enter one of the houses 
and examine some bric-a-brac manufactured on the 
spot from arbutus wood and bog oak. She showed us 
some of the most exquisite specimens of hand carved 
and inlaid work I have ever seen. There was one 
cabinet in particular that struck my fancy, and I 
thought I would buy it and express it home as a sou- 
venir. After opening all the doors and drawers and 
secret places, and admiring the harps and shamrocks, 
and myrtle and ivy designs so deftly inlaid, I felt cer- 
tain I would buy it, and was already fingering the 
shillings in my pocket, and making a mental calcula- 
tion of how many of them would make ten dollars, 
when I modestly asked her the price. Before answer- 
ing my question, however, she went on to say that 
Lord So-and-So had ordered one, and that an ex-mayor 
of New York and the governor of Louisiana each 
had one, and I began to get weary. Finally she came 
to the point, and intimated that as she would like to 
introduce this work into our part of the country, I 
" might have the cabinet for forty pounds, and the 
duty on it would be only three pounds more." I gave 
her to understand that she certainly mistook me for 
another gentleman ; that the initials of my name were 
not A. T. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 39 

Without making any purchase we prepared to mount, 
and after being firmly seated in the saddle discovered 
that the animals we rode, whilst they were sure-footed, 
were weak and " trembly," having tasted nothing but 
grass since they were weaned ; however, they were in 
keeping with everything else in this part of the world, 
except the scenery, which was perfectly grand. A hut 
was pointed out to us as the home, once on a time, of 
"the Colleen Bawn," and the place in the lake where 
she was drowned. This may be a myth, but there is 
little doubt that Dion Bouccicault got the ground work 
of that superb Irish comedy from this locality. 

We reached a point where one of the numerous 
retinue that follows us on foot went down under a 
cliff and hallooed, and the echo came back to us strong 
and clear as a bugle sound. Two small cannon were 
discharged and the echo was almost deafening. Further 
along another cannon was fired with a like result. So 
our cavalcade wound in and out and upward through 
the pass, the guides often telling us to halt and look 
backward, and whenever we did a vision of loveliness 
greeted us. On either side of us the mountains rose 
black and precipitous. Here was a dismal looking 
lake that contained no living thing. The guide said 
St. Patrick had killed the last snake at this spot, shut 
it in a tight iron box and sunk it in the lake. 

On reaching the summit of the pass, with the clouds 
floating on the mountain's brow, not so very far above 



40 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

our heads, we halted a moment and drank in the 
beauty of the whole scene. 

As we started on the down grade, our attention was 
attracted by a number of fancifully dressed mountain 
nymphs, skipping over the sharp stones towards us, in 
their bare feet, evidently bent on victimizing us in 
some manner. We were not long in finding out their 
mission. Each one carried a quart bottle of " moun- 
tain dew " under her arm, to which she referred in af- 
fectionate terms, from time to time, on the two mile 
stretch along which they followed us or kept pace 
with our horses. It filled our hearts with mournful 
reflections on the lamentable wickedness of the 
tourists that had preceded us; for without more en- 
couragement than they got from our party they would 
soon have abandoned their business. 

Debouching from this pass we straightway entered 
the famous Black Valley, famous in times past as the 
abode of witches and hobgoblins. Small farmers, who 
eke out a scanty subsistence, inhabit this dismal vale, 
keeping a few sheep and cattle of that excellent breed 
of milkers known as the Kerry. 

At the entrance to the grounds surrounding Lord 
Brandon's Cottage we dismounted, and, on payment of 
a fee, were admitted to pass through them to the land- 
ing on the Upper Lake, where we found a boat in read- 
iness, and something more — a lunch whose sauce was 
a good, sharp appetite. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 41 

We were rowed through the lakes at the rate of five 
miles an hour, and through the river that connects the 
upper and middle lake. The scenery, of course, is fine, 
and the ride can be appreciated after sitting so long in 
the saddle. There is a lovely place just before you 
enter the middle lake, called u The Meeting of the 
Waters." Before you strike it you pass down a rapid 
chute under an old stone bridge, called the old weir 
bridge, said to have been built in the year 900. One 
of the boatmen conveyed the pleasing information to 
our ladies, that no one who ever passed under that 
bridge would be subject to the toothache. As we 
passed out of the chute into that calm haven where 
the three waters meet, we looked back through the old 
bridge, and there was a photographer with his instru- 
ment in position in the act of taking us. I trust he 
made a success of it, for it was the second time I 
had caught him that day in the same act. 

The evening was drawing near when our tired boat- 
men landed us at Ross Castle. This was erected by 
one of the O'Donohu Ross family in the fourteenth 
century, and in earty days was considered impregna- 
ble. However, General Ludlow, commanding a por- 
tion of Cromwell's army, surprised Lord Muskerry by 
attacking it from the water side, when five thousand 
Munster men laid down their arms. There are three 
large cannon still in position. It was getting too late 
to tarry long, and we were not sorry to mount again 



42 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the jaunting cars of our friends, the Pats, and go bowl- 
ing along over the road toward our stopping place, 
where the gong for table d'hote was sounding in the cor- 
ridors as we mounted to the third story. 



CHAPTER V. 



DUBLIN. 



Our next stopping place was the city of Dublin, the 
metropolis of Ireland, containing a population of some- 
thing like 250,000. It is a delightful old place in which 
to reside, I imagine, and certainly no less delightful 
for the stranger who takes up his temporary abode at 
the Shelbourne, which claims the proud distinction of 
being the only hotel in Ireland that possesses an ele- 
vator, or, as the} r call it here with a good deal of unc- 
tion, a " lift." We look out from our window upon a 
beautiful park containing, perhaps, forty acres, right 
in the heart of the city. It is laid off artistically, 
abounding in walks and drives and sequestered nooks. 
There are miniature lakes and waterfalls, rocky eleva- 
tions and smooth shaven lawns, where the children 
gambol and frolic, and even big, uncouth men stretch 
themselves out and lazily smoke their pipes. The 
trees are, of course, numerous, and of every variety 
adapted to the soil and climate of the Emerald Isle. 
Many are in full bloom, and together with the posies 
that deck the landscape, exhale an odor that is 



44 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

decidedly pleasant. I have seen many larger parks, 
but none that combined all the beauties of nature 
with the artistic and useful to such an extent 
as the St. Stephen's Green, laid out in a square and 
drained and planted in 1670. Near Dublin is the 
celebrated Phoenix Park, containing seventeen hund- 
red and sixty acres, with a circumference of seven 
miles. It belonged in ancient times to the Knights 
Templar. In the fourteenth century the possession 
passed into the hands of the Knights of St. John, of 
Jerusalem, but it was confiscated by Henry VIII. when 
the mania seized him to suppress all the monasteries 
in the land. But what has, perhaps, given more noto- 
riety to this park than anything else in connection 
with it, was the assassination of Lord Frederick Cav- 
endish and Mr. Burke within view of their own gates 
in May, 1882. We were shown the exact spot where 
the crime was committed. It was of additional inter- 
est to us, perhaps, from the excitement aroused all over 
the land by the recent publication in the London Times 
of an alleged fac-simile letter from Mr. Parnell, ap- 
proving the crime. 

Fancy such an accusation brought against a man 
honored by his countrymen like Senator Ingalls, and it 
will give you an idea of the esteem in which Mr. Par- 
nell is held here by one political party, and the vigor 
with which the forgery was denounced will not be 
wondered at. The park, as might be supposed, is a 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 45 

fine body of land where tame deer graze in large herds, 
like cattle on a western ranch. It appears to me to be 
of too great an area to be of much utility. Central 
Park, in New York, certainly excels it in picturesque- 
ness, and in extent is large enough for all practical 
purposes. We spent an hour at its zoological gardens, 
being highly entertained with the sight of seven lusty 
lion whelps, seven months old, the offspring of a single 
pair. Of course, there was the usual display of ani- 
mated nature on exhibition — the fish, flesh, and fowl 
of all climates and all lands, which the small boy of 
our party, metaphorically speaking, devoured carniv- 
orously. Having our fill of this, we drove to the bo- 
tanical gardens, and I want to say right here that the 
tourists who fail to take in these gardens miss the rar- 
est treat to be found in Dublin or vicinity. The gar- 
den consists of forty- three acres once owned by the 
poet Tickell, a great friend of Addison. The latter re- 
sided here at one time, as well as Swift, and other poets 
of lesser note. The founding of the garden dates back 
to 1790, has the Irish parliament for its paternity, 
which voted the means to enable the Royal Dublin 
Society to purchase the ground and maintain it, and 
they do maintain it right royally. We used to think 
Shaw's Garden, at St. Louis, something wonderful ; 
but after having basked in the sunshine of Glasnevin, 
and sauntered through its multitudinous conservator- 
ies, where the plants, shrubs, and flowers of every 



46 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

sunny clime are represented, Shaw's Garden must be 
relegated to a secondary place in my memory. 

Now, do not think from what I have written that 
Dublin is all park or garden, on the contrary, quite 
the reverse. Why, there are enough objects of inter- 
est in the capital city of Ireland to fill a small book, 
but I am going to glance at only a few of them. First 
and foremost is the Bank of Ireland. Now a bank 
building, as a rule, is anything but interesting, particu- 
larly to the individual who has a note lying past due 
within its precincts. But if you were to convert the capi- 
tol building at Topeka into a bank (and worse things 
have happened), a hundred years hence the, tourist 
from the new republic, Ireland, might think it worth 
his while to be conducted by a lackey through some 
of the corridors, and be shown, for instance, the hall 
where one General Pomefrey met a signal defeat at 
the hands of the Duke of York, etc. The Bank of 
Ireland occupies the former house of parliament in 
College Green, the original site of Carey's hospital, 
erected in the sixteenth century. We were shown the 
house of lords, in which the chairs are still in their 
places, the long table in the center, and the fine old 
tapestries, in a good state of preservation, still adorn- 
ing the walls. The site of the throne is occupied by a 
statue of King George III. Other rooms, once used 
for committee purposes, are now occupied by various 
offices of the bank. Trinity College is opposite the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 47 

bank. It is a huge structure, occupying an entire 
block. At the entrance are statues of Goldsmith and 
Burke, and in College Green, close by, is an admirable 
statue of Grattan. By devious ways, past the Castle 
of Dublin, built in 1220, we find ourselves at the 
Cathedral of St. Patrick, built on the site where St. 
Patrick baptized his converts, presumably in the year 
450. One of the kings of Scotland worshipped in it in 
the year 890, and it underwent many changes as the 
centuries rolled away. Cromwell used it as a law 
court, and James II. as a stable. In various parts of 
this immense building are tablets and inscriptions, 
both ancient and modern. 

There is one of Dean Swift and Mrs. Hester Johnson, 
the " Stella " of his poetry ; likewise a monument of 
the Dean with an inscription in Latin written by him- 
self. Not a great way from this cathedral is pointed 
out the birth place of Tom Moore. 

'Another visit we made was to Christ Church. The 
vaults of this church were built by the Danes before 
St. Patrick visited Ireland. There is a monumental 
tomb here of Strongbow, the invader of Ireland ; by 
the side of it is one much smaller, said to be that of 
his son, killed by the hand of his own father for show- 
ing cowardice in battle. The building, which is one 
of considerable historic notoriety, was long in a state 
of dilapidation. It has been recently restored by 
Henry Roe, a distiller, at a cost of half a million dol- 



48 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

lars. The principal street of the city is Sackville, 
which, as regards width, will compare favorably with 
some of the many prominent ones in the " city of mag- 
nificent distances." It contains the postoffice, in front 
of which stands Nelson's monnment, nearly one hun- 
dred and forty feet high. 

In Dublin we took our first ride on this side of the 
water in street cars, here called tram cars. The cars 
are double-decked, and in fair weather the bulk of the 
traffic seems to prefer the second story. It was from 
this elevated position we were enabled to get our finest 
disolving views of Dublin. I confess we left here with 
some feelings of regret. Our stay had been of three 
day's duration, and extremely pleasant. Many places 
of resort not enumerated, we were forced to leave 
un visited. I shall always have pleasant recollections 
of the gay Irish capital. 



CHAPTEK VI. 



BELFAST. 



Leaving Dublin for the north, my attention was 
directed to the Boyne. which we were in the act of 
crossing on a magnificent viaduct of nineteen arches. 
Now, to the average American, who can trace his 
ancestry back no further than to an alleged great- 
grandfather, the river Boyne is of no more significance 
than the local stream known as the Cow Skin, a beau- 
tiful stream in southern Kansas, but handicapped for 
all time to come in the realms of romance in its christ- 
ening. Nevertheless there are a few thousand people 
residing in America who, on the second da}' of July, 
would shed their linen and fight at the drop of a hat 
if you uttered sentiments not in keeping with their 
peculiar views respecting a fracas that took place on 
this identical stream, in which their alleged ancestors 
either ran like quarter horses with King James II. 
— always a neck ahead — or marched to victory under 
the brave Prince of Orange, who restored order to a 
distracted country, and shed a light so refulgent and 
beneficent on Anglo-Saxon history that the average 



50 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Englishman is bound to reverence for once a man 
whose birth place was not on British soil. It was a 
heavy blow to the adherents of King James, and it is 
not a rare occurence now on the anniversary of the 
battle of the Boyne, which the Orangemen celebrate, 
to create disturbances, especially in the large cities of 
the Dominion. The battle is commemorated by an 
obelisk one hundred and fifty feet high. 

We arrived at Belfast on Saturday evening, having 
had our afternoon ride much enlivened by a little epi- 
sode not laid down in the guide book. It is evident 
that railway travel in the United States, where one 
coach, with reversible seats, accommodates fifty pas- 
sengers comfortably, possesses advantages not found in 
the European railway system, where the coach is di- 
vided into small compartments, holding from six to ten 
passengers each, according as they are classified, and 
who are compelled to sit vis-a-vis. This, of course, ne- 
cessitates riding backwards, which few people care to 
do under compulsion. 

On this occasion we selected, as we thought; a vacant 
compartment, in which my wife seated herself by the 
window, while I withdrew to look after the baggage — 
a matter that requires close attention in European 
travel, unless registered. The familiar cry of " all 
aboard " is not heard here, but the slamming of doors 
by the guard (conductor) or porters, warns the initiated 
that the train is about to move. This is followed up 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 51 

by the station agent, who rings a hand-bell; the loco- 
motive whistle then sounds the final signal of depart- 
ure, and the train is off. 

As the bell sounded. I re-entered the coach, which 
was immediately locked behind me. I discovered that 
a stranger occupied the seat by the window where I 

had left Mrs. S . In wonderment I asked her why 

she had exchanged her seat for one not so desirable. 
Directing my attention, by a gesture, to an individual 
who sat by the window, absorbed, apparently, in the 
columns of the Times, she gave me to understand that 
he claimed the seat as his, and had deliberately ordered 
her out of it. Of course I indignantly demanded of 
him his reason for committing an act so discourteous, 
and was placidly informed that he held a prior claim 
to the seat, according to the usual custom of this coun- 
try, which reserves a seat to the one who first deposits 
a parcel in the rack overhead. Not in the least molli- 
fied by his answer, I replied that no gentleman in my 
country, under any circumstances, would demand a seat 
already occupied by a lady. He sneeringly remarked 
that American customs were in a very crude state, dif- 
fering materially from the usages of enlightened Eu- 
rope. 

In marked contrast to the swinish proclivities of this 
modern Chesterfield was the conduct of a personal 
friend of mine, in an occurrence which came under my 
notice during a ride from San Jose to Oakland, Califor- 



52 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

nia. This boon companion, wearied by a long tramp, 
sought rest on the train ; and, having ensconced him- 
self in a vacant seat, was about to surrender himself 
to the embrace of the drowsy god when suddenly the 
train was invaded by a large party of excursionists, 
not all of whom were able to find seats. Amongst 
them were some ladies who had not learned to pose 
gracefully in a perpendicular attitude, who leveled 
their eyes at him as much as to say, " You stand awhile 
and watch how gracefully "1 can do the sitting act." 
He hesitated for a moment, and you know he who hes- 
itates is lost. So with as much grace as he could sum- 
mon, he yielded up his seat to the lady standing near- 
est him, who instantly flopped into it without ever so 
much as acknowledging this act of courtesy by a sim- 
ple " thank you." Then he pushed his way forward 
to the platform and sat down to rest his weary bones 
on the steps. 

The train was running at a high rate of speed, the 
car rocked as though tempest tossed, the flying cinders 
pelted him like hail, the smoke was sulphurous and 
choked him and got in his eyes ; but being an old sol- 
dier he did not mind trifles, but sat there seemingly 
contented, until the train stopped at a way station to 
take on water. Here a lady emerged from an adjoin- 
ing car with wrath in her eye, because no man had 
offered her a seat. My friend, all begrimed with 
smoke and dust, arose at once to his feet and bowing 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 53 

low said, "Madame, you can have my seat, if you de- 
sire it." " Well ! it's better than none," she exclaimed ; 
and without further ado she flopped. Then, as the 
train pulled out and began to fly, this friend of mine 
became naughty. He took up a position where he 
could see her without being observed himself. 

She was compelled to hold to the railing with both 
hands. The wind disarranged her hair, the smoke 
filled her eyes, and the cinders her ears, and how he 
gloated ! I think he would have been willing to stand 
up on a trip across the continent, rather than forego 
the supreme moment of satisfaction. She was forced 
to abandon the seat in question and seek safety and 
comparative comfort in her former position. Yes : 
American customs are crude. 

Belfast presents but few features attractive to the 
tourist. We took a gaslight promenade through 
crowded thoroughfares, but for all the novelty pre- 
sented, or strange sights that met our eyes, we might 
as well have been in St. Louis. It was something of a 
revelation, however, to see all places of business closed 
on Sunday morning, and the streets crowded with 
well dressed people, psalm book in hand, churchward 
bound. Even the military, in their nobbiest suits of 
scarlet, filed along the streets in measured tread to 
an appointed place of worship. It was a novel sight 
that greeted the eye in the large Presbyterian church 
we attended, with its galleries, seat rising above seat, 



54 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

radiant with red coats. How rare are the navy blue 
and brass buttons of our own United States army in 
the churches of our own land. It looks here as if the 
observance of Sunday, not only as a day of rest, but 
of outward religious devotion, were compulsory. 

This city, since 1612, has been controlled by the 
Scotch and their descendants. The Presbyterian being 
the established church of Scotland extends its sway in 
practice wherever the Scotch race has colonized. Here 
it is dominant, and the thrift of the people is in marked 
contrast to that of other portions of the island, where 
a different order of civilization, so to speak, prevails, 
and serves to keep in poverty and ignorance the warm 
hearted natives of southern Ireland. 

On Monday morning the Colonel started out to inter- 
view some leading Presbyterians, whom I believe he 
had previously met. He found them dispensing spir- 
itual comfort by the pint, quart, and gallon ; but then, 
you know, customs in the two countries differ. In my 
father's day there was no incongruity in a man being 
a pillar of the church and at the same time a high- 
toned dispenser of liquid hell-fire. This only goes to 
show the progressive spirit of the American people ; 
who, however, are sadly handicapped in all efforts 
looking towards total abstinence for the race, by the 
opposition of an element that enters into the pot-pourri 
of our civilization who hate prohibition as the devil is 
said to hate holy water. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 55 

As every one knows, Belfast, with its 275,000 people 
and its multitude of tall smoke-stacks, occupies the 
front rank in the marts of the world for the produc- 
tion and sale of linen fabrics. 

It is claimed that nowhere except on the bleaching 
grounds of Belfast can the linen, after it comes from 
the loom, acquire that perfect degree of whiteness de- 
manded by connoisseurs. In this particular alone, I 
believe, do the genuine products of the Belfast looms 
prove superior to those of Germany and Belgium. 

The manager of one large establishment, with four 
thousand employes the year round, courteously con- 
ducted us throughout the works, commencing in the 
warehouse, where tons of flax were stored, awaiting 
the process that should spin them into hanks of thread, 
and weave these threads into dainty handkerchiefs, or 
the sheets, table-cloths, and towels of commerce. 

We were shown the duplicate of a table-cloth woven 
for the Queen, at a cost of nearly fifteen dollars per 
yard, and samples of napkins, towels, tidies, and lap 
robes, of such unique design and exquisite finish, and, 
withal, so marvelously cheap, that my tariff backbone 
has needed stiffening ever since. 



CHAPTER VII. 



GLASGOW THE LAND OF BURNS EDINBURGH. 



Having wound up our brief ten days' tour of Ire- 
land, we boarded a steamer lying in Belfast Harbor, 
and after taking on numerous hampers of live fowls, 
and several head of sheep and cattle, the steamer got 
under headway about dark, behaved well all through 
the night, and by daylight the next morning was 
churning up the waters of the Clyde, passing by ex- 
tensive ship yards, where hammer and tongs play an 
important part in the vast industry that has grown up 
here since iron and steel have superseded live oak in 
the construction of ocean ships. 

Glasgow being the great commercial and manufac- 
turing city of Scotland, of modern growth, however, 
presents too much the appearance of one of our^ wide 
awake American cities to occupy much of our time. 

The principal object of interest pointed out to stran- 
gers is St. Mungo Cathedral, whose foundations were 
laid in the sixth century. It has been repeatedly re- 
stored since that time, but the old basement or crypt 
is held in great veneration by the Scotch people. It 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 57 

was the hiding place, according to Sir Walter Scott, of 
Rob Roy, and its walls have echoed the footsteps of 
the doughty Cromwell, who; after his signal victory 
over the Presbyterians at Dunbar, attended divine ser- 
vice in this old basement, and in astonishment listened 
to a tirade hurled at himself and the Independents by 
the Presbyterian clergyman, Zachary Boyd. Fancy 
General Grant, accompanied by his Assistant Adjutant- 
General, going to a rebel church to have his spiritual 
strength renewed, and being treated to a prayer for 
Jeff Davis and a fiery denunciation of himself and 
the cause he represented. And yet this is just what 
occurred to the chief of the Ironsides. As Boyd con- 
tinued to hurl his invectives, without any visible signs 
of letting up, Adjutant-General Thurlow whispered to 
Cromwell: "Shall I pistol the scoundrel?" " No ! no !" 
said the General, " we will manage him in another 
way ;" and having asked the minister to sup with him, 
he concluded the entertainment with a prayer of some 
hours' duration, which is said by contemporary chron- 
iclers to have lasted until three o'clock in the morning. 
Some forty miles from Glasgow is the city of Ayr, 
near which is the birth place of Robert Burns. We 
spent an entire day in a visit to this place, considering 
the time well employed. The house where Bobby first 
saw the light of day, certainly an unpretentious hovel, 
such as the commonest piece of clay would not covet, 
remains as in the days when Scotland's best loved poet 



58 *FROM NILE TO NILE. 

quaffed the brew with Tarn O'Shanter and Souter 

Johnny. That portion of the building shown as Burns' 

cottage was a clay bigging (whatever that is) with two 

apartments. In the kitchen is shown a recess where 

the birth took place. Some relics are here exhibited, 

said to be the original property of the poet ; also the 

chairs in which sat the two rustics which the genius 

of Burns has immortalized. 

" Fast by an ingle bleezing finely 
Wi 7 'reaming swats that drank divinely; 
And at his elbow, Souter Johnny, 
His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony." 

Further along is " Alloway's auld haunted kirk," 
with rootless walls, and in its churchyard repose the 
bones of the poet's father. We were admitted into a 
beautiful garden a little further along on the opposite 
side, which contains the Burns monument, erected in 
1820. In an apartment on the ground floor more relics 
were shown us, notably the Bible given by Burns to 
his Highland Mary. There is a separate structure in 
this garden, a grotto, containing life-size statues, in a 
sitting posture, glasses in hand, of Tarn O'Shanter and 
Souter Johnny, which are as creditable to the sculptor 
as to the dead poet who discovered the subjects. The 
conviction somehow forced itself upon my mind that 
these two worthies were getting a little more than 
their share of attention. Leaving the garden we wan- 
dered down to the " banks and braes o' Bonny Doon," 
a rippling, gurgling stream, perhaps a hundred feet 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 59 

wide, and stood on the "auld brig" which figures so 
conspicuously in the tale of Tarn O'Shanter. The 
driver points to a hill not far distant, where, a year 
ago, a Burns celebration was held ; there was a chorus 
of two thousand voices, and only the songs of Robert 
Burns were sung. 

The distance from Glasgow to Edinburgh is about 
fifty miles. Through this portion of Scotland the 
scenery is tame, but in the dissolving view we obtained 
from the car window, the land, judging from the grow- 
ing crops, was highly productive. Edinburgh, as the 
ancient capital of Scotland, possesses many attractions 
for the tourist. One of the first objects that strikes 
the eye on entering the city is that superb monument 
erected to the memory of Sir Walter Scott in 1844, at 
a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars. A stairway, 
two hundred feet high, leads to its summit, and be- 
neath its canopy is placed a marble statue of the great 
novelist and poet. In the same vicinity are statues 
of Livingston, Adam Black, and Christopher North. 
One finds no lack of monuments here to commemorate 
the deeds of Scotia's noble sons. Burns, Ramsey, 
Hume, Dugald Stewart, and others are held in grateful 
remembrance, while one that towers above all others, 
fully three hundred and fifty feet high, is that of Ad- 
miral Lord Nelson. But everything else in Edinburgh, 
to the eye of the tourist, pales before the grim castle, 



60 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

into the very mouth of whose guns we could look from 
our chamber window at the Windsor. 

Edinburgh Castle is built on a precipitous rock three 
hundred and eighty feet above sea-level. It is ap- 
proached by a circuitous drive, the entrance being by 
a draw-bridge. It was undergoing repairs at the time 
of our visit ; or, to use a term much in vogue with 
Europeans, was being restored. On entering you are 
expected to apply for the services of a guide, and 
reward him liberally for saying his little piece. 

One object of curiosity is an old cannon, twenty 
inches in the bore and twelve to fifteen feet in length. 
It was made in Belgium over four hundred years ago, 
when stone cannon balls were considered the most 
effective and deadly missiles of warfare. This unique 
piece of artillery, called Mons. Megs, is constructed of 
bars of iron bound together with iron bands. It evi- 
dently was fired once too often, as a rent in the breech 
large enough for the small boy to crawl through 
evinces, and I should not wonder if in its day it was 
something of a boomerang — dangerous alike to friend 
and foe. 

Near by this relic of medieval times, the spot is 
pointed out where the Earl of Moray, one dark night, 
with only thirty men, surprised the constable of the 
castle, who was slain, with many of his supporters. 
These Scotch lairds were great fighters, and their feats 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 61 

of prowess have lost nothing in telling by such roman- 
cists as Miss Porter and Sir Walter Scott. 

We were shown the ancient regalia of Scotland, 
consisting of a crown, scepter, sword of state, and lord 
treasurer's rod of office, besides some exquisite jewels. 

Then we were conducted to Queen Mary's room, 
in which she gave birth to King James VI., in whom 
the crowns of England and Scotland were united. 
From this bed room of very ordinary dimensions, one 
looks down a perpendicular descent of solid rock, full 
two hundred feet. It is said that the infant king, 
when but a week old, was let down in a basket to the 
foot of this precipice, and carried away to Stirling, 
distant some twenty miles, to be baptized into the 
Catholic faith. 

Leaving the castle, we passed down through the old 
portion of the city, nearly every rod of the way being 
historic ground. In the middle of the street, once 
part of an ancient burial place, marked by a flat stone 
inserted in the pavement, lie the remains of John 
Knox. Farther on, we find the house in which the 
great reformer preached from 1560 to the time of his 
death in 1572. 

Holy rood palace, perhaps rating next in interest to 
the old castle, on account of its association with the 
name of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, was 
temporarily closed, undergoing repairs, which brought 
our sight seeing in Edinburgh to a sudden termination. 



62 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

From here we decided to go directly south to London, 
deferring our visit to Loch Kathrine, the Trossachs, 
Stirling and Abbotsford until another season. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



LONDON. 



It is a long ride from Edinburgh to London, but one 
which we thoroughly enjoyed. At Melrose, we could 
see the old Abbey from the car window, and the Chev- 
iot hills, over which our way lay, though lacking in 
picturesqueness, formed an excellent background for 
the beautiful landscape that opened to our vision as we 
tore down the descent into what appeared a vast plain, 
diversified with hedges, woodland, red- tiled cottages; 
and, as we flew along at the rate of fifty miles an hour, 
great cities, with a pall of blackness hanging over 
them from forge and foundry, on through old towns, 
and past lordly manors, until the descending rain and 
curtains of night, together, shut out all but the occa- 
sional flash of a gas jet as we rushed on through tunnel 
after tunnel, until, finally, the train slacks up — stops, 
and by the smoke and the roar of traffic, like the 
sound of Niagara's falling waters, we realize we are 
in London. 

It was now about the first of June, and already 
London was filling up with strangers, who, from all 



64 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

parts of the world, were coming hither to witness one 
of the great events of modern times, the celebration 
of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. 

We were domiciled, after our arrival, at the Midland 
Grand Hotel in St. Pancras, nearly three miles from 
the city proper. It should be remembered that what 
is here understood by the City is a small area contain- 
ing a population of about 50,000 people. The metrop- 
olis is a collection of towns and villages comprised in 
an area of about eight by twelve or fifteen miles, lying 
in four different counties, the whole built up com- 
pactly, except breathing holes, represented by numer- 
ous parks and gardens which would seem to be a 
necessity, if one will stop to consider, that in the space 
indicated above, is a population equal to that of Mis- 
souri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado combined. You 
might take out people equal in population to some of our 
western cities, that have recently put on metropolitan 
airs, and "they never would be missed." Its immen- 
sity is beyond the comprehension of any man — except 
a cab driver. It was not our intention when we ar- 
rived in London to remain at an expensive hotel, but 
rather seek lodgings in some quiet, respectable neigh- 
borhood, where we could be served with a slice from a 
cold joint, or something hot, if we desired it, from the 
pastry cook's, and dine occasionally in the city. We 
had read of this in English novels and thought it about 
the proper caper. So we procured, from the American 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 65 

Exchange, the addresses of a number of people — mostly 
widows — who had lodgings to let; and, hiring a cab by 
the hour, we sallied forth like Japhet in search of his 
father, but on a mission that, long before we had com- 
pleted the grand rounds, proved to be fruitless. The 
vacant rooms were up three or four nights of stairs, 
not furnished to our taste, and exorbitantly high. 
Mention of the pastry cook's always elicited a super- 
cilious smile. And no wonder! Finding that another 
cherished dream had gone glimmering, we resigned 
ourselves to fate, and abandoned the search. 

It is all of four months before we dare set out for the 
Orient. In the meantime, we shall endeavor to make 
ourselves acquainted with London, and, when oppor- 
tunity offers, join a " Cook party" for a tour of the 
continent. 

There are so many places of public resort, and of 
historical interest lying in and around London, that 
the question how to reach them with the least possible 
outlay of money assumes greater importance than ap- 
pears at first sight ; hence cab fare becomes quite an 
item of expense, notwithstanding its cheapness, for it 
unquestionabty is cheap. 

In New York we were bled to the tune of two dol- 
lars and a half for cab fare from the Pennsylvania 
Central railway depot to the Gilsey House, on Broad- 
way. With a conveyance equally as good, and for 
about the same distance, sixty cents is the customary 



66 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

charge in London. But there are other and cheaper 
means of locomotion than the two or four-wheeled cab, 
and so we began to make ourselves familiar with the 
routes of the various omnibus lines, which form a net- 
work somewhat perplexing to the novice. The 'busses 
of each line are distinguished by the color, and ply back 
and forth over a prescribed route, never varying from 
it. Their capacity is usually twelve inside and four- 
teen outside passengers, and the fare from circuit to 
circuit, as the halting places are called, is four cents. 
One can get a far better idea of out-door life in the 
great city in this way than by any other means of loco- 
motion. 

The street car lines, which are not numerous, are all 
tramways, with double-decked cars, in imitation of the 
'bus, upon whose preserves they are slowly, but surely 
encroaching. 

The underground railway is a system of rapid tran- 
sit peculiar to London. The trains are similar in all 
respects to those used in the ordinary passenger traffic. 
The stations are not more than a mile apart, and are 
approached from the street by a descending stairway. 
In my judgment the system is preferable to the ele- 
vated railway of New York, or the cable roads of our 
western cities — the preference over the latter however, 
being only with regard to the safety of life. One can 
scarcely conceive the great benefit the underground 
passage is to the people of London. Human life 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 67 

swarms so in the streets of this modern Babel that, 



without such a channel to relieve the pressure, loco- 
motion, at times, would be wholly suspended and traf- 
fic be completely blockaded. 

How do all these people live? Well, they do not 
live; they just simpl}- exist. I have never seen so 
much apparent poverty without absolute mendicancy 
any where else. The lower classes, both men and 
women, show the effects of intemperance by their sod- 
den countenances and general run-down-at-the-heel 
appearance. Grogshops occupy nearly all the conspic- 
uous corners, away from the main arteries of trade and 
fashion. What a fine opening for the Woman's Christ- 
ian Temperance Union, whose missionary labor, I fear, 
is conducted on the principle that " charity begins at 
home. , ' I have witnessed many sad sights in my life, 
but none that caused the heart ache more than to see 
husband and w T ife both guzzling at the same bar, the 
wife with an infant in her arms, drawing its sustenance 
from a fountain fed by a gin-mill. And this is a sight 
so 'common that Londoners look upon it as one of the 
customs of the country, and, therefore not to be dis- 
turbed. One has the best conception of this accursed 
traffic after twelve o'clock on Sunday. The temper- 
ance element succeeded in getting in an opening, or, 
rather, a closing wedge by compelling the bars to close 
at twelve o'clock at night and on Sundays remain 
closed until noon. The tipplers who can afford to buy 



68 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

liquor by the gallon can, of course, bridge over the 
intervening hours ; but the poor hand-to-mouth 
wretches, deprived of their morning's e}<e-opener, 
stand around the doors as early as half-past eleven, 
and even form in line and take their turns to be served, 
as I have seen with my own eyes. But Sunday eve- 
ning is the time when the bar-rooms reap their richest 
harvest and sow the largest crop of dragon's teeth. 
Then it is that all the gas jets are turned on, and the 
handsome bar maids study to please and ruin, and this 
is — London. A Belfast manufacturer, whose pay roll 
runs up into the thousands, told me that he never paid 
his hands on Saturday, and said he : "I have the 
thriftiest lot of hands in Ireland. My employes are 
paid every Thursday afternoon. By Saturday night 
their earnings are all invested and their surplus depos- 
ited in the savings bank. On Monday there are but 
few broken heads." 



CHAPTER IX. 



AMERICAN EXHIBITION BUFFALO BILL ROYAL TOURNA- 
MENT. 



Our little party was invited to visit the American 
Exhibition. We took the underground railway for 
Brompton, leaving the train at Earls Court, and arriv- 
ing just in time for the afternoon performance. At 
great expense buildings covering several acres of 
ground had been constructed to accommodate, not 
only the display of American manufactures, but Buf- 
falo Bill's mammoth Wild West Show, an institution 
greater than the exhibition itself, of which it is an 
appendage. From the opening day of this wonderful 
show, vast crowds had been attracted hither. On one 
day. with the best seats selling at five dollars each, no 
less than sixtj^-four thousand people witnessed the 
performance held twice a day, rain or shine. Buffalo 
Bill (Hon. W. F. Cody, of Nebraska) has taken the 
English people by storm. I think I am perfectly safe 
in saying that no American has met with the same 
favor in the eyes of Londoners as he. The entertain- 



70 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

ment that he gives dwarfs anything in the show line 
I have ever witnessed. 

My acquaintance with Colonel Cody extended back 
nearly twenty years, to the days when Wild Bill wore 
the belt as the champion shootist of western Kansas. 
On renewing the acquaintance after a lapse of so many 
years, he prevailed on us to occupy his private box, 
which was no small favor to us, considering the large 
number of prominent Americans now in London. 
Scarcely had we been seated when the Duchess of Teck 
and the Crown Prince of Portugal, each with a retinue, 
filed into the first two boxes on our left, and through- 
out the unique performance manifested the most 
intense delight. 

Colonel Cody, in his effort to familiarize the people 
of the old world with wild western life, portrays accu- 
rately and vividly, as I have seen it on the frontier 
myself, almost every phase of frontier life. He gives 
the "Ked Man of the Forest" the best chance he has 
ever had to exhibit his characteristics in a playful 
manner to thousands of people who know him only 
through Cooper and Longfellow. Here they could 
view him in all the hideous aspects of a semi-nude, 
whooping, painted demon, riding to the charge on 
ponies as swift as ever swooped down on a defenceless 
settlement, or raced after the United States mail coach 
before the advent of the railway — two of the most 
exciting scenes on the programme. He has with him 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 71 

over one hundred Indians of different tribes, a number 
of cow-boys and Mexicans, besides some daring female 
riders who are likewise so skillful in handling the gun 
as to make the Carvers and Bogarduses look to their 
laurels. His horses, ponies, and mules were all brought 
from the United States and are first-class. There is 
not a commonplace act performed in the whole enter- 
tainment. I have seen expert riding in my day, but 
nothing that could compare with the equestrian feats 
of these cow-boys and Mexicans. Cody himself is a 
capital rider, and his feat of breaking two glass balls 
in the air with his rifle, mounted and in a full gallop, 
has never yet been surpassed. He gave a special per- 
formance one day for the royal family, and the Queen 
was so delighted that she came down from her box to 
greet him. Of course that settled it for Cody in the 
estimation of the English people. His fortune is now 
made. The amphitheater of this portion *of the exhi- 
bition is under cover, but the arena is all open, afford- 
ing a circular race course of about one-third of a mile. 
Outside of the amphitheater is the camp composed 
of Sibley tents, where Colonel Cody has his headquar- 
ters. Here are located other special American features 
— the log cabin with a dirt roof, where mixed Ameri- 
can drinks are dispensed to drouthy Englishmen. 
Under a canvas cover pop-corn balls are made and 
sold as fast as moulded, " taffy " is prepared and pea- 
nuts roasted, and the crowd guffaws loudly at the 



72 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

witticisms of the fakir — the ugliest negro that Buffalo 
Bill could find from Main to Texas. You can scarcely 
edge your way through this portion of the grounds. 
It beats big Thursday at a county fair, and it is this 
way every day in the week. 

We also attended another novel exhibition, held at 
the Agricultural Hall of the Smithfield Stock Show. 
It was no less an occurrence that claimed three hours 
of our time, than the Eoyal Military Tournament, at 
which were present the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
and minor princes and princesses ; also Queen Kappio- 
lani, of the Hawaiian Islands, the Grand Duke 
Michael, of Russia, and others of the blood royal with 
whom I am not personally acquainted. There were 
probably eight to ten thousand persons present, and 
the price of seats ranged all the way from sixty-two 
and a half cents to five dollars and twenty-five cents. 

The exercises were of a semi-military character, all 
the participants being officers and soldiers of Her 
Majesty's army. There was "lemon cutting" by 
officers mounted and at full speed with drawn sabre, 
and " taking the ring " with long handled spears, 
" pulling the stake " with the same weapon, leaping 
hurdles and passing barriers with artillery, vidette 
practising, firing from mounted concealment, and the 
best exhibition of cavalry drill by the Queen's Life 
Guard I have ever seen. The horses were black and 
as well drilled as their riders. They seemed to keep 



FROM NILE TO XILE. 73 

step to the music of the band as I have seen a trained 
horse in a circus perform. Of course the men were all 
picked, and the uniform they wore was simply su- 
perb. These exercises continue a whole week, and 
valuable prizes are awarded the lucky contestants. 
They are held annually, in the height of the London 
season, and form a pleasant recreation for that portion 
of the Queen's army which is not sent abroad. 



CHAPTER X. 



THE JUBILEE. 



The day of Jubilee, like all other eventful days, has 
come, and is now one of the past — that is, in the 
" eternal past.'" To the English people this was un- 
questionably the proudest day in the history of their 
country. Other great events have been celebrated 
with perhaps greater pomp and ceremony. The people 
have assembled in these same streets by thousands 
with hopeful hearts to cheer a king or queen upon a 
coronation day, but there was always mistrust present 
in some degree. 

The millions that turned out for the Jubilee were 
actuated by a common impulse made up largely of a 
feeling of thankfulness to Her Majesty, who, for fifty 
years has held the scepter beneficently over them. 
There was no rod that smites, to kiss. There were 
nowhere any demonstrations but those of love and 
reverence for the old Queen. When she assumed the 
responsibilities of government, the authority vested in 
her extended, outside of these islands, over one million 
one hundred thousand square miles. In the present 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 75 

year it is eight times as great. In 1837, when she was 
crowned, her subjects beyond the sea numbered a 
little over ninety millions, nine hundred thousand. 
They now exceed two hundred and seventy-five mil- 
lions. England's foreign trade, in round numbers, 
was five hundred million dollars. It is now more 
than three billions. 

As you might suppose, the whole city has been on 
the qui vive for the last week. Every jackleg carpenter, 
or, to use the wild western nomenclature, " wood 
butcher," that could be induced to tamper with hatchet 
and saw had been set to work improvising seats along 
the route of the procession. These were all put up, 
if clumsily, at least of great strength, and duly 
inspected by the authorities ; hence no accidents hap- 
pened from this fruitful source of disasters. I rode 
along the route to take in the decorations. In this 
particular, measured with the effort of San Francisco 
last year on the occasion of the Grand Army Encamp- 
ment, it was so far inferior as not to be mentioned in 
the same breath. There were no arches worthy of the 
name, and the display of bunting was not nearly so 
profuse, nor were the decorations so artistically de- 
signed. 

I was greatly surprised at the frequent occurrence of 
the stars and stripes. Scarcely a large building that 
did not exhibit one or more of our colors. Quite a 
number of buildings made no pretence of displaying 



76 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

any other colors, and the American Exhibition was 
completely draped in them. As late as fonr years ago, 
I am told, they would not have been tolerated. How 
she spreads ! We had been having " Queen's weather " 
for the last two weeks, and that of the day was no 
exception. It was simply delightful. Many people in 
the city did not retire at all, in order that they might 
be on the ground in time to secure a favorable position 
for viewing the procession. Fearing a blockade that 
would render it troublesome to reach the location of 
our reserved seats, we made an early start, and had 
the felicity of holding our thirty- dollar chairs down 
for six hours. I have never seen such masses of people 
in my life before, and do not ever expect to behold 
such again. The route over which the procession was 
to move, as before stated, was from Buckingham Palace 
to Westminster Abbey, a distance of three miles. The 
entire roadway was kept clear by a cordon of soldiers 
on each side, those at street intersections being cavalry. 
There was a regiment of infantry doing duty, called 
the Scotch Grays, uniformed in the Highland costume, 
whose martial bearing, individual size, and apparent 
effectiveness, naturally captivated my eye. They were 
headed by a brass band that, I am sorry to acknowl- 
edge, " knocked the socks," (army and navy-cally 
speaking) off of any brass band within my knowledge 
or experience. There was no military turnout in the 
procession, except the Queen's Eegiment of Life 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 77 

Guards, and another squadron of cavalry, both acting 
as escort. Nor was there any music the entire distance, 
except a fanfare of trumpets when the Queen entered 
the Abbey. The procession was in three sections, 
with an interval of fifteen minutes between the first two 
sections, and thirty minutes between the second and 
third. The Queen rode in an open carriage in the 
rear of the last section, going to the Abbey, and re- 
turning, the order of march, as to sections, was re- 
versed. I do not suppose it will be of any particular 
interest to name all the personages that rode in this 
great pageant. Many of them rode in close carriages, 
the only conspicuous object that greeted the eye being 
the gorgeously apparelled coachmen, footmen and 
outriders. 

A great rnany carriages were occupied by the retinue 
indispensable to royalty, such as lady in waiting to 
Her Eoyal Highness So-and-So, lady of the bed-cham- 
ber, mistress of the robes, groom of the robes, lord in 
waiting, gold-stick master of the household, master of 
the buck hounds, and, by permission of Poo-bah, groom 
of the back stairs. The Queen of Hawaii rode in an 
open carriage in the first section, but as it was not her 
show, so concealed her features that, from where I sat, 
I could only see a womanly form surmounted by a huge 
white parasol. Following her were several Indian 
princes with a large retinue. The second section was 
principally made up of carriages containing princes 



78 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

and princesses. In the third section, which was gor- 
geously got up. rode the King of Denmark, King 
of the Belgians, King of Saxony, King of Hellenes, 
the Crown Princes of Austria, Portugal, and Greece, 
and the Queen of the Belgians. Immediately preced- 
ing Queen Victoria's landau rode on horseback the 
Duke of Connaught, Prince of Wales, Prince Christian, 
Crown Prince of Germany and Grand Duke of Hesse. 
In the landau with the Queen rode the Crown Princess 
of Germany and Princess of Wales, who, in the 
natural course of events, will also be queens. The 
Duke of Cambridge rode on horseback by the Queen's 
side. The landau was drawn by six cream colored 
horses richly caparisoned, the "near" horses being 
ridden by postillions and likewise led. The Queen 
was plainly attired in light colored garments and bore 
in her hand a white parasol covered with black lace, 
but not in a manner to conceal her features. She was 
there to be seen, and this was emphatically her show. 
Being in her sixty-ninth year, she gives evidence of 
being a well-preserved old lady, equal to almost any 
emergency, and likely to sway the scepter until the 
Prince of Wales has grown as gray as herself. 

Of course, in so large an assemblage and in places 
where people stood six mortal hours, crowded and 
jostled as they were, it was not strange that some acci- 
dents should occur. None, however, came under my 
personal notice, but every few moments the ambulance 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 79 

brigade would carry some one past in a stretcher, usu- 
ally a lady who had fainted from fatigue and excite- 
ment. 

As the closing scene of a spectacular drama goes 
out in the flash of red light, so the closing scene of 
this greatest spectacle of the age was ushered out 
amidst the glare of myriads of gas jets, whizzing rock- 
ets, and showers of stars that dropped in mid-air from 
the expiring Roman candles, amidst shouts of " long 
live the Queen." 



CHAPTER XI. 



TOWER OF LONDON ST. PAUI/S. 



Associated with my earliest recollections of English 
history, is the Tower of London. Some eight centu- 
ries ago William the Conqueror began to rear the walls 
of this gloomy pile to serve him both as a fortress and 
a palace. In the ages that have elapsed since it be- 
came a citadel, no foreign foe has attempted its cap- 
ture. Civil war has raged around it and within its 
walls, as fiercely as the rude passions of the race could 
be aroused, in the troblous days that beset old En- 
gland in the lust of men for power. I suppose there 
has not been an hour in all that time that the sentry's 
tread has not echoed along its paved court yards. Its 
postern gate has opened at the behest of a king to 
usher in a blushing bride, and from the turrets of its 
towers has been witnessed the execution of that fair 
bride three years after, at the instigation of her own 
liege lord. Its festive halls have rung with laughter 
from the midnight carousal of courtiers, and the 
gloomy prison walls resounded to the deep groans of 
innocent men and women condemned to death. Within 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 81 

its chapel repose the dust of the martyred Lady Jane 
Grey, of the blood royal, and the ill-starred Anne 
Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both wives of King- 
Henry VIII. j beheaded on trumped-up charges of un- 
faithfulness to that erratic monarch, are buried in close 
proximity. In the great hall of the palace, King John, 
of France, a prisoner of war. performed the lordly act 
of entertaining his captor, the English king, and all 
his courtiers, at his own expense. From here Queen 
Elizabeth rode to Westminster Abbey to be crowned, 
in as great state as Queen Victoria proceeded from 
Buckingham Palace to the self-same spot. 

Here is a gloomy archway called the " traitor's gate," 
through which has passed many a suspected state pris- 
oner. Well might have been written on its key stone 
the words of Dante : " All hope abandon, ye who en- 
ter here."' Close by is the Bloody Tower where, tradi- 
tion says. Richard III. caused to be smothered the 
youthful sons of Edward IV. 

Ascending a stairway, we were ushered into a strong- 
room in the Wakefield Tower where are stored the re- 
galia and crown jewels, exhibited in a huge glass dome- 
shaped case. Here is the crown of Queen Victoria, 
described as follows : " A cap of purple velvet is en- 
closed in hoops of silver, surmounted by a ball and 
cross, all resplendent with diamonds. In the center of 
the cross is the inestimable sapphire, and in front of 
the crown is the heart-shaped ruby, said to have been 

6 



82 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

worn by the Black Prince." Here also is St. Edward's 
crown, made of gold, and glittering with precious 
stones ; the Prince of Wales' crown of pure gold, but 
no jewels, and lastly the Queen's diadem, richly 
adorned with large diamonds and pearls. This was 
made for the wife of James II. This case also con- 
tains, amongst other articles of priceless value, a bap- 
tismal font used at the christening of the royal child- 
ren, and anointing vessel, etc., used at the coronation ; 
besides, there are numerous scepters adorned with 
precious stones. In other cases are exhibited the re- 
galia and badges of different orders, such as the Order 
of the Thistle — a collar, badge, and star — the Victoria 
Cross, Order of the Garter, and so on. 

Being surfeited by the sight of so much wealth and 
magnificence, we leave this and wend our way to the 
White Tower. At the front of the stairs leading to 
the great tower is the reputed burial place of the mur- 
dered princes; and ascending several flights of stairs 
we enter what is termed " The Horse Armory,'' which 
appears to be a museum containing all manner of an- 
cient armor for man or horse, artistically arranged in 
complete suits on dummies, giving one a correct idea 
of the manner in which they were worn when in use 
in ancient times. I have observed one thing in Lon- 
don, which is this : Anything which is got up for show 
is on a grand scale ; and the fact is, there seems to be 
too much of everything. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 83 

The eye wearies of it and the feet grow tired even 
before the curiosity is fully satisfied. One might sup- 
pose that half a dozen samples of plaited and woven 
armor would be sufficient to tell the tale ; but no ; 
there is a large room full of it. and another room full 
of w T eapons, swords, spears, guns of every conceivable 
style and manufacture. There are many ancient relics 
here of a warlike character, which would take many 
pages to describe. Here is the identical cloak on 
which General Wolf expired in the moment of victory 
at Quebec : a uniform worn by the Duke of Wellington 
when constable of the Tower ; a beheading block with 
just three cuts in it, suggestive of the three great lords 
who laid their necks upon it in 1745, also the execu- 
tioner's mask, and the broad axe that forever closed 
their earthly career. But I have written enough 
about the Tower of London, and will pass on to 
another structure where onhy white-winged peace hath 
an abode; and yet. eA^en here in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
which we now T visit, the warlike spirit of a nation 
that craves the whole world is manifested by an array 
of marble sculpture that is simply wonderful. It 
seems as if all the heroes that have added lustre to 
the English name in the past century and a quarter 
are remembered by a grateful country in a manner 
that will be as lasting as the race itself. In an im- 
mense structure like this, that covers over two acres 
of ground, and cost three millions and three quarters 



84 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of dollars, there is an abundance of room to afford a 
niche for the exquisitely carved statues of all the great 
men whose names their country desires to perpetuate. 
To name them all in this connection is a task I shall 
not undertake. There is one of General Ross, com- 
memorating his capture of the city of Washington. It 
is silent about his record of having laid the city in 
ashes. There is another in honor of Generals Paken- 
ham and Gibbs, who perished in front of " Old Hick- 
ory " at New Orleans. But the grandest of all is 
erected to Lord Wellington, who, judging by the 
many evidences of England's prodigality in statues 
and monuments to the conqueror of Napoleon the 
Great, is esteemed more highly than any warrior of 
his race. There is one entire room devoted to his 
statue, on the walls of which are some exquisite carv- 
ings of scriptural representations. 

On payment of a shilling we gained admittance to 
the crypt where repose the remains of many whose 
effigies in marble we have just left. Notably, of Sir 
Joshua Reynolds, Sir Edward Landseer, and Benjamin 
West — royal artists of imperishable fame — Admiral 
Nelson in a sarcophagus of black marble, originally 
designed for Cardinal Wolsey. Here, too, lie the 
remains of Lord Wellington in an elegant sarcophagus 
of porphyry, weighing seventeen tons. A little dis- 
tance off stands his funeral car, a massive piece of 
workmanship made from captured cannon, which con- 



FKOM NILE TO NILE. 85 

veyed the remains of the once Sir Arthur to their final 
resting place. In this crypt is buried Sir Christopher 
Wren, the architect and builder of St. Paul's, as well 
as of other great edifices in London. Sir Christopher 
was thirty-five years engaged in the erection of this 
building. He lived to complete it and he needs no 
other monument. Coming up from the dim portals of 
the tomb we heed the invitation, on payment of a six- 
pence, to " come up higher," not we, but I. The 
prospect of ascending five hundred and sixty steps to 
the top of the monster dome, in which is located the 
whispering gallery, looks too appalling to the balance 
of the party and, solitary and alone, I undertake my 
spiral journey heavenward. Having accomplished 
two hundred and sixty steps I arrived at the whisper- 
ing gallery and took my position one hundred and 
forty feet distant from the guide. In a moment I 
heard the voice of some one at my elbow. I turned 
to see who the intruder was, but bless you ! there was 
no one there, only the guide standing one hundred and 
forty feet across the open space of this vast dome. I 
answered him in whispers, and in whispered accents, 
more distinct than words conveyed by the telephone, 
his answers came back to me. He slammed the door 
for my benefit, and the effect was simply deafening. It 
is yet three hundred steps to the upper gallery, and 
fifty-six more on top of that to the ball. When I con- 
template the significance of these additional steps, and 



86 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the full six hundred and sixteen down, I begin to 
weigh in my own mind whether or not the game is 
worth the candle. The fact is, I have gone up and 
down so many stairs on this tour, I am threatened 
with what horse fanciers technically call " knee 
spring/' A due regard for my personal appearance is 
allowed the mastery, and I go up no higher — not to- 
day, perhaps some other day- 



CHAPTER XII. 



FOLKESTONE. 



Iu our search for a boys' school that should combine 
the comforts of a home with the discipline requisite to 
the proper training of a youth, tempered with that de- 
gree of kindness and sympathy one should feel who 
has the welfare of children in his hands, w T e were rec- 
ommended to visit the boarding schools for boys in the 
delightful old town of Folkestone, where, in the south 
of England, some seventy or eighty miles from Lon- 
don, the salt sea breezes in the hottest mid-summer 
day are more bracing than those that kiss the melting 
snows of an Alpine summit. 

Boarding the morning train at Charing Cross Sta- 
tion, we were soon " thundering over bridges, rattling 
under arches," disappearing in dark subterranean holes 
and again emerging into the dazzling light of the sun, 
flying through rural scenes of surpassing loveliness, 
acre after acre devoted to the culture of hops ; drying 
houses of red brick, w T ith that peculiarly shaped vent 
always awry, like an untidy woman's bonnet, lent 
something of a charm " quite English you know " to a 



88 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

landscape in which nature has been prodigal of her 
favors. 

Folkestone is a city of some twenty thousand inhab- 
itants — a portion of it quite ancient, the remainder of 
recent growth. The ancient or principal business por- 
tion is quaint enough, even for medieval times, with 
narrow crooked streets — some of them capable only of 
giving passage way to pedestrians. The shops are 
numerous and well stocked, but, as a rule, so small as 
to make five customers before the counter a crowd. 
The modern portion of the city is superbly built, with 
wide streets and boulevards. The houses are mostly 
four story, handsomely designed, roofed with slate, 
and, as is the prevailing custom throughout the United 
Kingdom, built of stone or brick, the chimneys all 
topped with red or white pots. 

The church edifices are nearly all of modern design, 
the exception being the parish church, which is said 
to have been one of the first religious buildings in En- 
gland. It contains an ancient clock with a peal of 
eight bells. 

Folkestone is noted as having been the birth place 
of Dr. William Harvey, the discoverer of the circula- 
tion of the blood. He was born in 1578, and posterity 
has honored his memory by the erection of a handsome 
bronze statue on a marble pedestal overlooking the sea. 

Travelers going direct from London to Paris take 
passage here by steamer for Boulogne. On a moder- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 89 

ately clear day the coast of France is plainly visible 
from the promenade on the lees. The distance from 
here to Dover, where the channel narrows, is only eight 
miles, and from here to Boulogne about twenty-eight 
miles. 

Aside from the salubrity of the climate there is lit- 
tle to tempt the tourist to linger here. In the sur- 
rounding country there are few objects of interest. At 
Hythe. five miles distant, is located a school of mus- 
ketry and the ancient church of St. Leonard, in the 
crypt of which is a large collection of skulls. 

At the back of this city is quite an elevation, with 
remains of military intrenchments, supposed to have 
been the camp of Julius Caesar. Shorncliff Camp, dis- 
tant some two miles, was used for military training as 
far back as 1794, and is still utilized for the same pur- 
pose, and accommodates at the present time about 
three regiments. The summer season is just opening 
up, and I am told that more than twenty thousand 
visitors, votaries of fashion, flock hither and remain 
during the heated term. 

Well, after lunch we proceeded to follow up the busi- 
ness that had brought us hither, and directed our steps 
to the Montague House School, and were admitted by 
the usher to the reception room, to await the appear- 
ance of the Master, as the proprietor is here called. 
As I beheld, from the window, troops of boys marching 
past in double file, marshalled by a subordinate teacher. 



90 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

" Dotheboys Hall " came vividly before my imagina- 
tion, and I wondered if in this school, conducted, evi- 
dently, on the Yorkshire plan, there was a Squeers in 
disguise to wield the rod, or a Smike to cringe and 
writhe beneath its sting. But the pleasant, open coun- 
tenance of the proprietor, Mr. Wagner, the motherly 
aspect of his better half, and an hour's conversation, 
including an inspection of the premises, dispelled any 
forebodings that this might be one of that class of in- 
stitutions that Dickens labored so hard to overthrow. 
Certainly, so far as appearances went, here was just 
the home we wanted for our boy, while we followed 
the plan laid down in the first chapter of this book. 

Many parents are deterred from going to Europe on 
account of the separation from their children — with 
the Atlantic rolling between them and their loved 
ones, which in case of severe illness would prove an 
insurmountable barrier to a speedy reunion. For this 
reason we brought our only child with us, not for the 
sake of any superior benefit he might derive from the 
schools here, but that we might be, in point of time, 
ten days nearer to him than if we had left him at 
home. Then, a mother gets ungovernably hungry for 
the kisses of her child when the separation lengthens 
into weeks, and weeks into months, and the months 
begin to pile up dangerously near the end where they 
are checked off into years. The wisdom of this course 
became manifest when we left the boy at this school 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 91 

and then began to count the days until we should see 
him again. The pleasure of meeting was not marred 
by sad anticipations of parting. Nor did we ever re- 
gret placing him at the Montague House School. The 
fact is that our chief reluctance on returning to Amer- 
ica was the necessity involved of withdrawing our boy 
from an institution that so admirably combines the 
best influences and comforts of a home with all the 
advantages of a day school and gymnasium, to say 
nothing of a locality whose healthfulness is so con- 
ducive to the building up of a robust constitution. 

Montague House is in the new resident portion of the 
town, four stories in height, connected with a row of 
similar design, situated one block from the sea, whose 
hoarse murmurings can be heard as the tide rolls in 
and dashes its spray against the rocks that line the 
coast full eighty feet beneath the lees, as the handsome 
promenade is called, lying between the city and the 
beach. The prospectus of the school states that it 
" receives and prepares the sons of gentlemen for the 
public schools, the civil and military competitive ex- 
aminations, and the universities. Particular attention 
is given to delicate and backward boys, and special 
arrangements are made for the reception of pupils 
from abroad.'* The house arrangements, aside from 
the class rooms, are a "library and reading room, a 
large refectory, a play room for wet weather; thirty 
well appointed bed rooms, three bath rooms.*' etc. The 



92 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

domestic arrangements, under the personal supervision 
of the ladies, are as follows: " Breakfast at 8 a. m., 
consisting of ham, eggs, etc., with tea and cocoa. 
Lunch at 11 a. m., tartine. Dinner at 1:15 p. m., 
joints, puddings, etc., with a dessert on Sunday. Tea 
at 5:30 p. m. Supper at 8 p. m., tartine again."' 

The special features of the school are these, aside 
from the curriculum: " No corporal punishment ; an 
enclosed cricket- and foot-ball' field; a lawn tennis 
ground ; a sea- water swimming bath ; attendance at 
the military gymnasium ; a workshop ; a properly 
constructed place for boys' pets ; bicycle and tricycle 
sheds ; horses and ponies for riding ; a printing office, 
and a museum." 

It is required that each pupil be provided with " one 
Eton suit (this consists of a silk 'stovepipe' hat, 
black jacket, vest and long trousers, broad, white, turn 
down collar, and black necktie), two suits of clothes 
and an overcoat, three pair of boots and shoes, one 
pair of slippers, one hat, one cap, one white flannel 
cricketing suit and cap, flannel dressing gown, hair 
brush and comb, towels, silver spoon and fork, um- 
brella, sponge bag, and sufficient linen to admit of 
three changes weekly." You will doubtless be im- 
pressed with the prominence given to those features 
that will contribute to the cultivation of brawn and 
muscle, as well as the improvement of the mind ; their 
theory being that it requires a strong, healthy bodj^ to 




The Eton Suit 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 93 

support a vigorous brain, hence every encouragement 
is given to field and aquatic sports. Less than a year 
ago I listened to a prominent member of the board of 
regents of one of our state institutions, in an address 
to the pupils, condemn in unmeasured terms the folly 
of wasting precious moments in the national game of 
base ball. From an American standpoint he may 
have been right, but if he had stood on British soil 
and inveighed, as an officer of its educational inter- 
ests, against the game of cricket as a recreation, his 
position afterward would have been far from an envi- 
able one. It is a well known fact that the universities 
of this country, as well as a few of the most prominent 
of our own favored land, have carried the education 
of the physical man far beyond its just requisites as an 
aid to the intellect. 

One of England's greatest reformers, distinguished, 
however, only as a writer of fiction, in that absorbing- 
novel, "Man and Wife." though aimed principally at 
the looseness of the marriage laws of Ireland and 
Scotland, has dealt the most telling blows of any 
writer of the age at the craze for muscle rather than 
mind, and the undue prominence given by the British 
educators of the day to athletic sports. A wholesome 
combination of the two seems to me imperative. In 
many of our own colleges physical culture is wholly 
ignored, and the result is, as you must know, that at 
every commencement graduates are turned out with a 



94 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

mind calculated to grapple successfully with the prob- 
lems of theology and metaphysics, but with a consti- 
tution so impaired by excessive brain work as to render 
them incapable of reaping any advantages gained by 
burning the midnight oil. 

The pathway from the alma mater to the great Be- 
yond is strewn with the wrecks of brilliant intellects 
whose light has gone out in darkness by reason of a 
lack of attention to physical culture. The English 
schools, colleges, and universities are older than our 
own ; experience has shown them the pitfalls of an ed- 
ucation exclusively mental — hence, in endeavoring to 
avoid the Xemesis that overtakes the unwary student, 
they have gone quite naturally to the other extreme, 
and are turning loose upon the world hordes of mag- 
nificent athletes who, like the Arabs, are children from 
the shoulder up. 

We concluded our visit to Folkestone with a skim 
on the waters of the Channel, whose waves were ruf- 
fled by the welcome breeze, just enough to give the 
row boat that gentle bounding motion suggestive of a 
horse in a lope. Then we bade the little fellow, who 
was to have a new page in life opened for him, a tear- 
ful good-bye, and with hearts just a little sad returned 
again to the smoky city. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 



BRITISH AND KENSINGTON MUSEUMS NATIONAL GALLERY 

OF PAINTINGS — MADAM TUSSAUD's WAX WORKS. 



In the long list of attractions which this city affords 
there is nothing, to my mind, of much greater interest 
than the museums and picture galleries, so profusely 
stocked with works of art and curiosities from the four 
quarters of the globe. I shall have occasion to describe 
as I go along the most important, confining n^self in 
this chapter to four, namely: The British Museum, 
the South Kensington Museum, the National Picture 
Gallery and Madam Tussaud's wax works. The Brit- 
ish Museum was first opened to the public in 1759. 
From its ever increasing collection of antiquities it 
outgrew its original quarters, and in 1823 the present 
magnificent edifice was commenced and is not yet com- 
pleted, although five millions of dollars have been 
already expended in the building alone. Here are 
mummies from Egypt, half as old as creation itself, 
displayed under glass, Nineveh marbles and the orig- 
inal tablets, containing an account of the creation and 
deluge, discovered in Assyria, and an endless variety 



96 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of statuary and bronzes of great antiquity ; besides 
engravings, manuscripts, old books, coins, and every 
article of utility used by the ancients, or by savages 
of a more modern era, including their idols and weap- 
ons of warfare. In fact, the whole known world has 
been searched for relics of this description. There are 
probably seven hundred and fifty thousand volumes of 
valuable books in the library of this institution, and 
botanical specimens on the same grand scale. 

The South Kensington Museum next engaged our 
attention. It is an offshoot, in some respects, of the 
British Museum. It has been the depository, also, of 
collections acquired in the great exhibition of 1851, and 
of the fine art collection exhibited at Marlborough 
House. In two large apartments are reproductions in 
plaster of all the best works of noted sculptors and 
carvers to be found in any part of Europe, the most 
prominent object being a full sized copy of the Column 
of Trajan, which has stood for more than seventeen 
centuries over the ashes of that noted emperor in one 
of the forums of Rome. 

In other apartments are fine collections of paintings, 
tapestry, lace, Sevres and other porcelain, bric-a-brac, 
wood carving and inlaid work, centuries old and of 
incalculable value, bequeathed to the institution by 
individuals who gratified a taste for the artistic, and 
after spending a lifetime collecting these specimens of 
man's handiwork and genius, left the result of their 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 97 

love and munificence to the world, that the arts, and 
all that was aesthetic in our natures, might be further 
cultivated and encouraged. In one apartment are 
seven cartoons executed by Raphael in 1513. These 
cartoons, representing scriptural scenes, are merely 
designs for tapestry work, ordered by Pope Leo X. In 
size they are about twelve by twenty feet. The tapes- 
tries, of which there are ten, are now in the Vatican. 
The cartoons have quite a history of their own. 
Oliver Cromwell bought them for fifteen hundred 
dollars from Charles I., who had purchased them on 
the advice of Rubens from the manufacturer at Arras, 
in whose warehouse they had lain since the death of 
Raphael. They finally passed through the hand of 
royalty until they reached Queen Victoria, who per- 
mitted their removal to the museum in 1865. 

The largest collection of paintings in the museum 
was the gift of the late Mr. John Sheepshanks. There 
are perhaps one hundred of them executed by such 
noted artists as Sir Edward Landseer, Turner, Leslie, 
Mulready and others. The Jones collection, acquired 
in 1882, is the most important gift, as well as the most 
valuable, yet secured. Here you see not only rare 
paintings, but sculpture, bronzes, and a great variety 
of porcelains, enameled and inlaid work. 

I can merely give you a glimpse of these things. To 
describe them in detail would take a volume, so vast 
are the collections throughout this huge building. The 



98 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

national gallery of pictures is located on Trafalgar 
Square, near the American Exchange. It contains 
more than one thousand paintings of the British, 
French, Dutch, Flemish, Italian and Spanish sehools. 
Here are some of the finest paintings of Leslie, who 
was born of American parents. Those of Benjamin 
West, another American, had been temporarily re- 
moved from the gallery. A true lover of fine art, I 
fancy, could be well entertained in the national gallery 
for two or three days. There are two rooms entirely 
devoted to the Turner collection, painted by himself, 
and by his will bequeathed to the nation. This eccen- 
tric artist, who painted over two hundred and fifty 
pictures and acquired a fortune, died under an assumed 
name in obscure lodgings in 1851. In his will he be- 
queathed all his pictures and property, which was of 
great value, to the nation. The heirs disputed the 
will and a compromise was effected, whereby the gov- 
ernment only came into possession of the Turner 
collection of pictures. 

Another room contains a number of Hogarth's best 
works of art. There is also a considerable number 
of paintings from the hands of each of the following- 
artists, whose names are inscribed high up on the rolls 
of fame : Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Vanderneer, 
Correggio, Titian, Paul Yerronese, and Eosa Bonheur. 
To one who is not educated up to a correct apprecia- 
tion of high art, as illustrated in these wonderful gal- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 99 

leries, a visit to Madam Tussaud's exhibibion of wax 
figures and French relics will present quite a relief. 

Madame Tussaud was an artist in her day, and her 
sons have inherited her talent. She learned modeling 
in wax from her uncle more than a century ago. She 
at one time resided at the court of Louis XVI. and 
Marie Antoinette, engaged in instructing the king's 
sister in the art of modeling — hence her competency 
to model many actors in the sad dramas of the French 
court of that and a subsequent period. Her master- 
piece is said to be a model of Voltaire, taken from life 
two months before his death, and exhibited here. Of 
course, some representations, while they reflect credit 
on the artist, are imaginary, like the hundreds of fine 
paintings of our Savior, but many are executed from 
the living subject, and wherever historical discriptions, 
portraits, or busts could be procured, the visitor is 
assured that they have been faithfully copied, and re- 
created in life-size form, clothed in such apparel as 
their position in life, or the custom of the times in 
which they lived, renders appropriate. The hair 
which adorns the waxen cranium is all human hair, 
and so deftly secured as to give the appearance of 
having grown there. There has been no individual 
of any great prominence since the days of William the 
Conqueror up to a recent period, whose effigy in wax 
is not exhibited in these rooms ; and while a majority 
are in a standing position, some have been given a 



100 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

sitting posture, or to carry out the effect of a tableaux, 
kneeling. The kings, queens, and all the royal blood 
are clothed in costly raiment, military men in uniform 
and armor, statesmen and the clergy in the finest of 
robes, or in clothing befitting their distinctive avoca- 
tion. The eyes, of course are of glass, natural as life, 
and the feet encased in the shoe or boot corresponding, 
as the clothing, to the period they are designed to 
represent. 

Entering the main exhibition rooms on the first floor, 
if you turn inmiediately to the left, you behold a me- 
dium-sized man with florid locks and a dark gray mil- 
itary cloak. This is Garibaldi. Your first impression 
is that it is some individual on duty connected with 
the institution. William the Conqueror, on the right, 
is seated in a graceful attitude, while over him bends 
Matilda, his ambitious wife, through whose aspirations 
he attempted the conquest of England — and succeeded. 
William was the son of Duke Robert, surnamed " le 
Diable." His mother was the daughter of a Norman 
tanner. Thus we see that leather has had something 
to do in the history of this country as well as in that 
of our own. The man who can trace his ancestry back 
to one of the band of marauders that subdued this 
island in 1066 is a lord or a peer of the realm. In so 
vast a collection as this it would be tedious to name 
more than a few of the more prominent characters. 
The short, heavy-set man surrounded by a harem might 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 101 

be recognized as Henry VIII., with his six wives, and 
here one pauses longer than a moment, for the charac- 
ter study is interesting. 

Here are the kings and queens that have ruled Eng- 
land since the day of the Norman conquest. Their 
visages conform to one's idea of their actual worth as 
described in history. Stern Oliver Cromwell, with his 
armour buckled on, occupies a chair removed from the 
sacred precincts of royalty, and it is fitting, from an 
English standpoint, that such should be. Groups ox 
royalty, both native and foreign, are quite common. 
The year of jubilee entitles Queen Victoria to more 
than one representative. There is one expressive 
group wherein John Calvin consents to the execution 
of Michael Servetus and Jacques Gruet for heresy. 
This group, if I recollect right, contains also Mary, 
Queen of Scots, and Lady Jane Grey. On a pedestal 
stands George Washington, with powdered hair and 
que, velvet coat, vest and knee breeches; close by him, 
on the floor, Charles Dickens in plain citizen's suit. 
On another pedestal is Benjamin Franklin in brown 
apparel, of the stj^le worn towards the close of the 
eighteenth century. In a modest group, distinguished 
by no trappings, insignia of office, or rank, in the plain 
simple garb of the citizen, stand facing each other, 
Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, James A. Garfield 
and Ulysses S. Grant. It is said Grant's effigy was 
made nineteen years ago. If modeled from life it re- 



102 FEOM NILE TO NILE. 

fleets no credit on its creator. The representation here 
is a caricature. While the other three are recogniza- 
ble, Grant's bears so little resemblance to the old chief 
that they might as well substitute it for that of Gui- 
teau, which occupies a prominent position in the cham- 
ber of horrors. You may say these are only " wax 
figgers," what do they amount to? Simply this, that 
this exhibition is visited by people of every clime, na- 
tionality and walk of life. They form impressions 
here, whether erroneous or not, that are irresistible, 
and I defy the man to visit this cunningly got up show 
and go away from it unimpressed by a feeling akin to 
that produced by having been in the actual presence 
of those whom these figures are intended to portray. 

The sensation on visiting a portrait gallery is en- 
tirety different. There you are filled with admiration 
for the artist who has so skillfully transferred the liv- 
ing features to canvas. Here you never give the artist 
a thought ; you are thinking of the man who stands 
before you, lacking but the breath of life to make it 
all real. Those whom I have enumerated are the only 
Americans whose effigies are on exhibition, except 
Tom Thumb. 

On payment of an additional sixpence, we were ad- 
mitted to the room containing the French relics, or 
Napoleon's room, and from there to the chamber of 
horrors. Lying in state upon the veritable bed upon 
which the great Napoleon gasped his last breath, was 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 103 

the superb effigy of the greatest general of modern 
times. It was only the waxen image of the acknowl- 
edged chief among chiefs, yet what would you or I not 
give to see a figure, even in wax, as well authenticated 
of Alexander the Great, Caesar or Hannibal, those 
three alone of all the world's great generals whom his- 
torians will care to contrast with his name and fame ? 
When I stand by the tomb that enshrines the mor- 
tal remains of the man of destiny, who carved his 
way with his sword from a humble position in life to 
the throne once occupied by Charlemagne, I doubt my 
own personality if I shall feel the same deep emotions 
as when I stood by his image in plastic wax, viewed 
the mattress on which he expired, the articles of cloth- 
ing he had worn, the sword he sheathed for the last 
time on the fatal field of Waterloo, the pen which he 
wielded as ably as the sword. Was it not pardonable 
that I should feel these emotions when I mounted the 
same coach that was once his private property, placed 
my feet on the same steps his had trodden, sat on the 
same seat where his weary limbs, on that memorable 
retreat from Moscow, had reposed ? 

But the French exhibit does not commence and end 
with Napoleon the Great. There are also fine repre- 
sentations of other prominent characters who have 
figured in the history of that erratic people, of whom, 
perhaps, the illustrious " nephew of his uncle " and 
his luckless son are the most conspicuous. In a suburb 



104 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of London, one of the most romantic and picturesque 
spots in all England, both are laid away. When 
Gabriel's trumpet sounds, for anything I know to the 
contrary, they may be awakened on British soil, but 
it is not among the impossibilities of the future that a 
sense of national pride will cause the removal of their 
remains where the tri-colors which Napoleon III. 
lowered in dishonor at Sedan may wave over their 
tomb. 

When Kaiser William and Bismark and Yon Moltke 
have passed over the silent river, if you happen to 
survive them don't be surprised if France " lets slip 
the dogs of war " and declares the battle on. Napo- 
leon precipitated a war upon his country without 
provocation and lost Alsace and Lorraine. The war 
that I am figuring on will be for the purpose of recti- 
fying Napoleon's mistakes. 

We now descended from Napoleon's room, the cham- 
ber of horrors, down a flight of stairs to a dismal 
basement. Do not fear that I am going to tell you of 
things that will curdle your blood and make each 
separate and distinct hair on your head stand on end 

' ' Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. ' ' 

This chamber of horrors is like the ass in the lion's 
skin — pretty much all bray. Here are effigies of all 
the great malefactors of the age. I failed to see vil- 
lain written upon a single countenance ; is not that 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 105 

strange? But then, it is perfectly natural. Noted 
criminals, as a rule, are not detected as such by their 
physiognomy. 

While there were no headless bodies exhibited, there 
were a number of heads, minus the trunk, illustrating 
the artistic work of decapitation, and the veritable 
guillotine which had severed the heads from twenty- 
two thousand luckless bodies was the masterpiece of 
this diabolical appendage to an otherwise chaste and 
highly entertaining show. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE PARKS OF LONDON. 



Any description of London would be very partial 
and incomplete were it to fail in making mention, be 
it ever so briefly, of those delightful bits of landscape 
which here and there relieve the monotonous aspect 
of the ugliest city named b}^ tourists ; for, aside from 
a few public buildings, palaces and hotels, the archi- 
tecture of the buildings present little else than plain, 
dingy rows of stone, brick and mortar. Even the 
most modern buildings, such as are just now receiving 
the finishing touches, would be no credit to some of 
the ambitious cities of the western plains ; but as an 
offset to this lack of architectural taste, the public 
parks and gardens are all that the most fastidious 
critic could desire. 

I have counted twelve in my peregrinations through 
the metropolis, to say nothing of little independent 
plats not rising to the dignity of public parks. It is 
sufficient for my purpose if I describe, but briefly, a 
few only of the twelve, and of these, Regent's Park 
takes the lead. It was given to the nation by George 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 107 

IV., when Prince Regent, and contains four hundred 
and seventy acres, abounding in pleasant walks, lined 
with over-arching shade trees, smooth lawns, shrubs 
and groves, and an extensive artificial lake. Sheep and 
deer roam its pastures unmolested, whilst thousands 
of children and numerous cricket and lawn tennis 
clubs utilize it at their own sweet will. Here are 
located the Zoological and Royal Botanic Society's 
Gardens. The former possesses a collection of three 
thousand animals, taking the lead of all similar insti- 
tutions in the world. One of its main features is a 
large edifice wholly devoted to reptile life. There is 
not a slim}- creature on God's footstool seen by man 
that has not its living duplicate here. But the great- 
est single attraction in the garden is unquestionably a 
female specimen of the bald chimpanzee, or manlike 
ape. Sally, as she is named, is a rare specimen, I am 
told, having a black face and a bare head. She is quite 
intelligent for one of the species, and very tractable, 
doing just what she was bid to do by the attendant. 
She was even so obliging as to sing for us. That song- 
convulsed her audience in laughter. Then she actually 
chuckled to herself and became so radiant that she in- 
sisted on presenting me with a bouquet of two beards 
of wheat, which she placed in my button hole and 
which I bore away as a souvenir. 

Hyde Park, not a great way from the last named, is 
three hundred and eighty acres in extent, and is 



108 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

largely used by the nobility on account of its pleas- 
ant drive. The famous " Rotten Row " is com- 
prised in this park, and is nothing more than an en- 
closed track for equestrian exercises. In the after- 
noon of a pleasant day a lively scene is presented. 
Between the riding and the driving track are thou- 
sands of chairs where the onlooker can lounge for a 
penny. No two-wheeled vehicle is allowed on the 
drive, but the handome equipages in London, with 
drivers and footmen in livery, and wealth, fashion and 
beauty (ugliness not debarred) are on exhibition. On 
the south side of the park is the Albert Memorial, a 
very handsome gilded statue, beneath a richly deco- 
rated canopy whose spire reaches to a height of one 
hundred and seventy-five feet. It cost six hundred 
thousand dollars, and is replete with carvings around 
the base, representing life-sized effigies of nearly all of 
the great men of the world, distinguished in art, poetry, 
music, or letters. At the four corners of the base, 
removed several feet from the statue, are rich sculp- 
tures representing Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. 
Kensington Gardens contain two hundred and ten 
acres, separated from Hyde Park by a lake called 
Serpentine — the great skating pond of London when 
frozen over. On the west side of the park is Kensing- 
ton Palace, where Queen Victoria was born, and south 
of it the South Kensington Museum described previ- 
ously. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 109 

Kew Gardens, which we visited by a Thames 
steamer, are something like seven miles from the 
American Exchange. It is a delightful spot, and the 
steamboat ride up the Thames, past "Westminster 
Abbey. Parliament House, and other places of interest, 
was highly enjoyed. Here we inspected the old palace, 
once the residence of George III., the Botanical Gar- 
dens, which contain a palm house three hundred and 
sixty feet long and ninety feet wide, a tall pagoda, and 
the museum which is contained in two separate build- 
ings — the first with specimens of timber, and the 
second, three stories in height, with all manner of 
seeds and matured vegetable growth, or if perishable 
and of an edible nature, in colored wax. Fruits of 
every clime are so represented ; and speaking of vege- 
tables, even the ambitious little yellow pumpkin that 
flourishes in Posey county, Indiana, and which was 
said to have climbed the telegraph poles to get a peep 
at Horace Greeley in passing, has its niche. There is 
a glass-domed building here, devoted to aquatic plants 
in which grow some monster lilies, of which our pond 
lily is a miniature. The largest leaf I saw would 
measure fully four feet in diameter. 

Greenwich park is down the river Thames, about 
the same distance, I should judge, from the Exchange. 
The boat leaves the foot of London bridge, and passes 
close by the Tower of London and the East India 
wharf. The bulk of the water craft which plies in 



110 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

such vast numbers on this noted river, seldom goes 
above London bridge. The park stands back from the 
river perhaps half a mile and is beautifully diversified 
with steep hills, fine old trees and meandering avenues. 
Here is the Greenwich Observatory, established in the 
time of Charles II., and now the meridian from which 
geographers reckon longitude. Hard by, and lying 
between the river and park, is the Greenwich Hospital. 
The Palace of Placentia in which Henry VIII. and his 
daughters Mary and Elizabeth were born, though al- 
most demolished by Charles II., forms part of these 
hospital buildings. This monarch erected new build- 
ings, and under the reign of William and Mary the 
palace was converted into a seamen's hospital and to- 
day is a great curiosity. Of course it has a museum 
in connection with it. I went through eight long- 
rooms containing models of ships of all kinds, includ- 
ing models of the various inventions of the present 
age. In another building was an art gallery contain- 
ing portraits of all the great naval officers who have 
figured from time to time in English history. 

Likewise paintings of naval engagements, and relics 
of Admiral Nelson and the Franklin expedition. But 
the grandest things of all to be seen here are the 
painted ceilings and walls of this splendid gallery. 
The hall is one hundred feet long, fifty-six feet wide 
and fifty feet high. The ceilings, as well as portions 
of the walls, are decorated with paintings executed by 



FROM NILE TO NILE. v 111 

Sir James Thornhill. It is said he was nineteen years 
in doing the great work of art, and after its comple- 
tion he never stood upright, and died three years after- 
wards. It commemorates the reign of William and 
Mary, and has many allegorical representations. The 
colors are rich and warm, and every figure distinct and 
perfect. If one could lie on his back for two hours and 
study out the whole design there would be some satis- 
faction in viewing it. 

There is a little ante-room at the end of the hall 
which visitors are likely to overlook. I blundered into 
it quite by accident myself, and thanked my lucky star 
for it. It contained about twenty exquisite paintings, 
one by Benjamin West (and, by the way, the only pro- 
duction of America's great artist I have been able to 
see) portraying the deathbed scene of Admiral Nelson. 
The subject is a prolific one, as I have observed several 
others by noted artists, none, however, in the minia- 
ture form as here portrayed. In the vestibule of the 
hall is a fine old painting of Columbus. The paintings 
in this gallery are all donations, a large proportion 
having been presented by King George IV. 

St. James Park lies near the heart of the cit}^. It 
contains about ninety acres and is appropriately laid 
out with parterres, drives, and ornamental water ; 
close by is the House of Parliament, and, overlooking 
it, many of the Government buildings. On the north 
side is St. James Palace, the town residence of the 



112 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Queen. Victoria Park is in the northeast of London 
and contains nearly three hundred acres. The Baron- 
ess Burdett-Couts, who, some years ago, married an 
American, Mr. Lehman Bartlett, who, as one of the 
conditions of the union, was required to assume her 
name, has erected a handsome drinking fountain here 
at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars. 

Viewed from a hygienic standpoint, the numerous 
parks of London are an absolute necessity. 

From an aesthetic standpoint, they make London life 
endurable. 

The native Londoner loves them as the mountaineer 
loves his own favorite haunts. 

Without its parks, London would be the dreariest 
spot on earth ; whereas, during the fashionable season 
from May until August, it is the most delightful city 
in the world, not excepting Paris. 



CHAPTER XV. 



CRYSTAL PALACE HAMPTON COURT. 



The Americans colonizing the Midland Grand have 
been re-inforced by fresh accessions from across the 
seas. We meet them in the corridors of the hotel, and 
in the parlors, where, according to English custom, the 
utmost quiet usually prevails, but which now resound 
with loud laughter, and a medley of voices pitched in 
falsetto, indicating as plainly as though heralded by 
the hall boy the arrival of a " Cook party " of tourists. 

Do mine eyes deceive me ? 'Tis he, 'tis he, my long 
lost brother ! Such is the greeting, as I clasp the hand 
of a fellow Kansan, Hon. B. W. Perkins, M. C, and 
in the name of the Queen and both houses of Parlia- 
ment, bid him welcome to London, and extend to him 
the freedom of the city. 

The Judge being a member of the Cook party, and 
our original intention being to travel on the Continent 
under the auspices of the same, we linked our fortunes 
together for a matter of two months, although the 
membership of myself and wife in the " third vacation 
party of Thos. Cook & Son," as set forth in the circu- 



114 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

lar, did not become operative for ten days thereafter, 
the interim being allowed the new comers to see the 
sights of London. 

We had still a few places of interest left to visit, 
mostly in the suburbs. Amongst these, the Crystal 
Palace at Sydenham, first engaged our attention. 
It is reached by rail from Ludgate Hill, London Bridge, 
or Victoria Station. We drove to the latter, and se- 
curing our seats, were soon gliding over the smoothest 
of tracks, at such an elevation as left us nothing to 
see, at times, but the red tiled roofs and unsightly 
chimney pots of uninteresting houses ; then, as we got 
away from the smoke and noise of the thickly settled 
portion of London, isolated rows of yellowish brick 
buildings and unoccupied spaces of greensward indi- 
cated the " addition " advent, which here means the 
encroachment of the ever spreading tide of humanity, 
which, like the sands of the great desert, or the sedi- 
ment of the Nile, never yields up what it has once 
invaded. 

The Crystal Palace, as its name indicates, is con- 
structed largely of glass, much of its material coming 
from the old Exhibition building of 1851. It stands 
upon an elevation surrounded by two hundred acres 
of land laid out with a view of surpassing in landscape 
beauty anything of a similar character in Europe. 
The building is sixteen hundred feet long, the central 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 115 

transept three hundred and ninety feet in width and 
in height one hundred and seventy-five feet. 

We spent the entire afternoon in viewing the curios- 
ities contained in its museum, its half mile or more of 
paintings, and the industry of turning and carving 
objects in vegetable and natural ivory. 

There is a vast rostrum and auditorium where im- 
mense crowds are often entertained with music and 
oratory. A large portion of the building is devoted 
to a refectory, and here we obtained an excellent din- 
ner and then strolled around through the grounds, 
admiring the shrubbery, and having our enjoyment 
much enhanced by the sweet strains of music wafted 
to our ears on the gentlest of flower-laden breezes, 
from one of the famous military bands of which Her 
Majesty's army seems just now to have a supera- 
bundance. 

The crowd, which up to sundown was scarcely wor- 
thy to be so designated, now, as twilight approached, 
began to assume huge proportions, there being not less 
than thirty thousand persons present to witness 
the grandest pyrotechnic display of this matchless 
season. 

When the curtain of night had been let down, as it 
were, the ball opened, and for about one hour luminous 
sheaves of wheat, starry showers of the varied hues 
of the rainbow, and fiery serpents rained down from 
above, while Niagara Falls, amidst salvos of artilleiy, 



116 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

discharged a molten flood, and London Bridge, as here 
represented, shone np grandly and distinctly, then 
vanished in smoke. Balloons with comet-like tails 
sailed away in the distance, and fountains, the most 
stupendous in the world, cast their glittering spray 
upwards in the glare of Bengal and calcium lights, 
until they, too, seemed transformed into a dazzling 
sheen of evanescent light and glory. 

Deeming it the part of wisdom to leave before the 
last fiery scene laid down in the programme had be- 
come an accomplished fact, we avoided the crowd and 
got off on the first train for the city. 

Having heard so much of the interesting character 
of Hampton Court, we took the train one day at Wa- 
terloo station, and reached its vicinity after a pleasant 
ride consuming less than one hour, the distance being 
thirteen miles. 

This old historic pile of buildings covers about eight 
acres of ground on the banks of the Thames, sur- 
rounded by stately trees, looking out upon lovely vistas, 
shaded lawns, and ornamental water, worthy to be 
classed with Versailles of which it became a rival more 
than two hundred years ago. 

Bushy Park, five miles in circumference, lies adja- 
cent to it, an excursion to both places being usually 
accomplished in one day. 

Hampton Court Palace was erected by Cardinal Wol- 
sey in the sixteenth century, but additions have been 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 117 

made to it by such of the royal family as chose to make 
it their residence. 

A monarch with the covetous disposition of Henry 
VIII. could not bear to see a courtier, even one pos- 
sessed of the scholarly attainments and proud bearing 
of a Wolsey, in the enjoyment of such a fine estate. 
Hence, the man who, when the headsman's axe, as it 
seemed, stood only between him and eternity, regretted 
that he had not served his God with the same fidelity 
as his king, generously bestowed it on his erratic mas- 
ter, with whom it became a favorite place of abode. 

Here, in succession, after Henry VIII., who died in 
1547. dwelt the youthful King Edward who died in 1553, 
likewise Queen Mary, 1558, Queen Elizabeth, 1603, 
James I., 1625, Charles L, 1649, Cromwell, 1658, Wil- 
liam III.. 1702, Queen Anne, 1714, and George II. « 
1760, — the date referring to the death of each. 

The state apartments, to which we gained admit- 
tance, are thirty-two in number. The walls of each 
are hung with old paintings and tapestries, many of 
the latter placed there by Wolsey himself, whose chief 
delight seemed to be in the ornamentation and beauti- 
fying of this child of his heart. Who can fathom the 
depths of his misery when, through a sense of policy, 
the heroic act of voluntarily parting with it all was 
consummated. I have had occasion to allude to the 
absence of the paintings of Benjamin West in the na- 
tional gallery ; here at Hampton Court are no less than 



118 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

seventeen of his productions, for the display and pres- 
ervation of which one entire room is set apart. A 

local historian says : "This room is now exclusively 
hung with the paintings of West, all of which were 
executed for George III., who greatly admired them 
and extended to him a most liberal patronage. He 
was equally in favor with the public, who lauded his 
performances to the skies, and with his fellow artists, 
who made him president of the Royal Academy. We 
now hardly know which to wonder at most — an obscure 
lad from the wilds of Pennsylvania, who took his first 
lessons in painting from a tribe of Cherokees, accom- 
plishing what he did ; or the English fetish, Public 
Opinion, so deluded as to regard his efforts as master- 
pieces of art. The depreciation which has overtaken 
him may be judged when we hear that an ' Annuncia- 
tion ' for which £800 was originally paid, was knocked 
down in 1840 for £10.' ? 

Of the thousand paintings occupying space on these 
walls, there is little to excite the admiration or satisfy 
the aesthetic taste of the connoisseur. The novice 
would be even less attracted by this display of art, 
though, of course, their antiquity goes for something. 
A picture, dimmed with age, unless the work of one 
of the old masters, receives but a passing glance from 
the average tourist. 

No palace now-a-days, open to public inspection, 
would be complete did it not have some special attrac- 
tion in the way of a relic of defunct royalty. Here it 
materializes into three old beds of state. William and 
Mary, of blessed memory, wooed the drowsy god on 
two of these crimson couches, and on the third George 
II. slept the sleep of the just. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 119 

One not accustomed to the grandeur of palaces sees 
much to admire here in the large dimensions and ar- 
tistic finish of the rooms ; particularly does this apply 
to the Great Hall, built by Henry VIII., after the 
death of Wolsey, for an audience chamber and thea- 
tre. It is all of one hundred feet long, forty feet wide, 
and sixty feet high. The roof is of timber, and per- 
haps the best specimen of the Tudor-Gothic style ex- 
tant. In this hall, where royalty itself drew on the 
buskin, Shakespeare, it is said, played ; for he was a 
well-known member of the king's company of actors. 

This hall, built by Henry the VIII. on the ground 
presented to him by the luckless Wolsey, was utilized 
on one occasion, and perhaps for the last time, 1718 in 
the production of the play " Henry VIII. , or The Fall 
of AVolsey." Considering the peculiar significance of 
the place where this drama was mirrored, one might 
almost be pardoned for excusing a rendition of the 
Passion Play in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

The chief external objects of attraction, are a mag- 
nificent row of horse chestnuts fully one mile in length ; 
and a mammoth grapevine over two hundred years 
old, that will measure at least three feet in circumfer- 
ence, with branches long enough to give color to the 
old woman's story of a " grapevine telegraph." I sus- 
pect there are larger vines in the world than this, but 
when a single vine for one hundred successive years 
produces from one-half to one and a quarter tons of 



120 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

grapes, it can lose none of the importance through 
rivalry. 

The time allowed us here was not sufficient to ena- 
ble us fully to gratify our curiosity — it but seldom is 
in England. The bell of the Thames steamer by 
which we were to return, was giving the " third and 
last call " when we crossed the gang plank, wishing 
only for one hour more at Hampton Court. 

The Thames river is rendered navigable thus far — 
twenty -four miles — by the canal system of lock and 
dam. In the summer season, when the tide is in, it is 
preferable to any other route. It was near the middle 
of July and before we reached Westminster Bridge 
night had overtaken us, and not being prepared with 
warm wraps we paid the penalty of neglect, and actu- 
ally suffered with cold. 

During a stay of ten weeks in London, we experi- 
enced only three days that were uncomfortably warm, 
and but few evenings when one cared to dispense with 

wraps. Colonel C and his estimable wife remained 

here during the summer and expressed their delight 
with the climate and all the surroundings, in unmeas- 
ured terms. 



CHAPTEK XVI. 



BLAINE OF MAINE — THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT — ROYAL 
COURTS OF JUSTICE CHURCHES OF LONDON. 



Shortly after the arrival of Mr. James Gr. Blaine in 
London, I called upon the distinguished American, in 
company with three casual acquaintances. I had 
previously obtained a glimpse of Mr. Blaine as he was 
entering a carriage at the Metropole, bound for the 
American Exhibition as the guest of Buffalo Bill. The 
whiteness of his hair and the pallor of his countenance 
impressed me at the time as not being in strict accord- 
ance with a published interview, emphasizing the ro- 
bust condition of his health. 

However, before I had been in his presence five 
minutes, I discovered that Blaine of Maine, although 
not as tough as the pine knots of his adopted state, 
was far from being an invalid. The conversation was 
confined almost exclusively to incidents of travel and 
estimates of English life and English methods. Mr. 
Blaine is a keen observer of what is going on around 
him, and an anecdote loses nothing in raciness, 
piquancy or ludicrousness, after passing through the 
crucible of his mind. 



122 FROM NILE TO JSTILE. 

The courtesy of the English people to him exceeded 
that shown to any other visitor not in public life. Of 
course, appearing here at a time when public attention 
was completely absorbed by the Jubilee festivities, and 
when crowned heads and crown princes were at the 
front, he did not make such a stir as a statesman of 
his caliber would have made in ordinary times. I 
scrutinized the London dailies closely and observed 
that Mr. Blaine was receiving all the attention from 
our British cousins that a well disposed people, on the 
one hand, could accord, or a fair minded people, on the 
other, expect. It is unnecessary to add that the re- 
spect shown him by his countrymen was profound and 
unmarred by partisan bias. 

The Judge, being a member of the legislative branch 
of our government, had some curiosity to witness the 
sessions of the British Parliament. Through the 
courtesy of Minister Phelps, with whom we spent a 
pleasant hour at the American Legation, we were ad- 
mitted to the galleries of each house. I confess to a 
sense of disappointment in the miserable, dark, nar- 
row stairway by which the bird-cage of a gallery is 
reached, in such marked contrast to the magnificent, 
broad marble steps that lead to the galleries in the 
Capitol at Washington, where the ladies are ad- 
mitted. Here they are relegated to a seat beyond ear- 
shot, where the highest favor shown the sex is to per- 
mit them to gaze on this august body through a screen. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 123 

There is plenty of ornamentation here — " windows, 
with gilded and canopied niches between them : the 
royal throne, glowing with gold and colors ; the richly 
carved paneling which lines the wall, with its gilded 
emblazoned cove, and the balcony of brass, of light 
and elegant design, rising from the canopy ; the roof 
most elaborately painted and with its massive beams 
and sculptured ornaments and pendants richly gilded." 

In the House of Commons we sat through hours of 
a running debate, in w T hich there were two divisions 
of the House, necessitating the rising and withdrawal 
into another room of every member for the purpose of 
taking a vote. 

The speeches of Mr. Labouchere (the Sunset Cox of 
the House) and Mr. Balfour were listened to with 
much pleasure. It was late when we took our seats 
in the House of Peers, and as this sleep}^ old body had 
up for consideration a subject as dreary as two of the 
speeches delivered in our hearing, we quietly with- 
drew. 

We spent part of an afternoon at the Royal Courts 
of Justice, a magnificent new building, recently erected 
near Temple Bar, and where now sit the Courts for- 
merly located at Westminster, Lincoln's Inn, Doctors' 
Commons, etc. The judges all appeared in wig and 
gown, likewise the barristers, who were assisted by 
counsel in plain citizen's attire. The procedure in 
these courts is very similar to our own. 



124 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

All good Americans who spend a Sunday in London 
are likely to attend services at one of the following 
churches : Metropolitan Tabernacle, Christ Church, 
St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, or Temple 
Church. The first named is in Newington, on the 
Thames. We drove thither on Sunday morning, cross- 
ing by the Blackfriar bridge. This Tabernacle, an im- 
mense structure, owes its existence to the popularity 
of Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. When we stepped down 
from the cab there was a vast concourse of people in 
waiting for the doors to open. A gentleman kindly 
informed us that we could avoid the crush and secure 
a seat by passing through a side entrance and deposit- 
ing a small sum with the gate-keeper for the foreign 
mission fund. We followed his advice, and, being ad- 
mitted, were conducted by the usher to a seat in the 
upper gallery, abreast of the pulpit, which was to be 
occupied that day by Mr. C. H. Spurgeon. Sometimes 
the younger Spurgeon supplies the pulpit, and stran- 
gers go away disappointed. 

I have never seen so large a chapel so thoroughly 
packed. It seats only one-third as many as the Mor- 
mon Tabernacle at Salt Lake, but the galleries extend- 
ing entirely around the interior on three sides gives a 
solidity, or compactness, to an audience, not attainable 
in Brigham's huge structure. The choir occupies an 
elevated position in rear of the pulpit ; the singing be- 
ing congregational, requires no organ. I think all of 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 125 

four thousand voices must have joined the choir that 
day in singing the praises of God. They seemed to 
sing with the intensity of feeling that the Grand Army 
puts into ''Marching through Georgia" — with a 
"spirit that will move the world along." In close 
proximity, but underneath the pulpit, sat demure look- 
ing charity girls, and deaf men and women sat through 
a rather lengthy discourse, on the life and character of 
Moses, with open hand or trumpet to ear, not willing 
that any of the droppings of the sanctuaiy should es- 
cape them. Mr. Spurgeon has been described so often 
as to render a repetition here unnecessary. He is a 
charming and effective speaker, though not eloquent ; 
but above all, he is a clean man. 

Christ Church is also on the south side of the Thames 
and we reached it by the Westminster Bridge. This 
church also owes its existence to the genius of one 
man. It was built for the Rev. Newman Hall. It has 
a tower two hundred and twenty feet high, the cost of 
which was defrayed in part by American contributions, 
in commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamationt 
It is called Lincoln Tower, and further to weave into 
its history a memory that should endear it to patriotic 
Americans, the church was dedicated on July 4th, 1876. 
AVhile it is an Independent church, its services are 
conducted, as I heard a gentleman say. on the "Euro- 
pean plan," meaning, I suppose, according to the lit- 
urgy of the established church. Mr. Hall, whatever 



126 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

he may have been in his younger days, is now neither 
a pleasing nor impressive speaker. The singing was 
of the intermittent kind — the audience striving to get 
ahead of the leader, and when once there, dropping to 
the rear again with an occasional entanglement of 
voices ending in discord, as when one stands at the tel- 
ephone, and catches that strange jargon caused by the 
interlapping of wires. There was life neither in the 
sermon nor in the audience, which occupied no more 
than half the seats in this superb edifice. An acquaint- 
ance, as we filed out, remarked to me that the best 
thing about the service was the benediction. 

Westminster Abbey, at the time of which we write, 
had not been re-opened to the public since the Jubilee 
exercises had taken place. St. Margaret's, an appen- 
dage, had, however, been made to serve instead, so we 
wended our way thither to hear a sermon from Canon 
Farrar ; but the crowd, of the same mind as ourselves, 
was so great we could get no nearer than the door, and 
that ended it for us. Allusion has been made, in a 
previous chapter, to St. Paul's Cathedral, and we pass 
on to the old round, or Temple Church. This was 
erected in the twelfth century by the Knights Templar 
— the soldier monks of the crusade period. It presents 
two styles of architecture, the early English-Gothic 
and the Norman. It stands not far from Temple Bar, 
in the inner circle of historic London. Thither, pil- 
grims from all over the English speaking world direct 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 127 

their footsteps, not so much from curiosity to inspect 
the old church, as to stand by the tomb of Oliver 
Goldsmith, whose "Vicar of Wakefield" and "The 
Deserted Village " take rank with the best productions 
of English literature. Goldsmith was of Irish birth, 
a typical son of Old Erin, a literary genius of whom 
it was said : ,k Thieves had only to plunder a stranger 
to make him a neighbor.-' He lived contemporane- 
ously with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Dr. Johnson and 
David Garrick, and was their intimate associate. 
AVhat a combination of talent was comprised in this 
" big four I" At the age of forty-six, in the pride of 
manhood and zenith of his fame, his life ended. 

" As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm, 
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head. ' ' 



CHAPTEK XVII. 



ANTWERP BELGIUM . 



When the Cook party was rounded up at the Mid- 
land Grand on the evening of its departure for the 
Continent, the courier in charge found he had a party 
of twenty -three Americans nearly equally divided as 
to sex, who for the next two months were to do his 
bidding, while upon him was shifted the responsibility 
of attending to every detail of comfort and sight- 
seeing. For the same length of time these twenty- 
three tourists were to travel the same route, by the 
same train, or other conveyance, view the same 
scenery, stop at the same hotels, sit at the same table, 
haunt the same picture galleries and museums, and 
drink, as it were, "from the same canteen." The 
party consisted of three persons from California, three 
from Kansas, one from Minnesota, two from Michigan, 
five from Pennsylvania, three from New Jersey, three 
from New York, one from Massachusetts, one from 
Connecticut and one from Canada. 

Fortunately, there were in the party neither bores, 
moss-backs, busy-bodies, nor constitutional grumblers 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 129 

— either one of which would destroy the peace of 
heaven. 

Wealth, position, and learning were closely allied 
with youth, beauty, and fashion. 

Individual selfishness, a feature so prominent with 
independent travelers as to merit the suggestion of 
affinity with the great American hog, was conspicuous 
here by its total absence. This was a party of Bohe- 
mians out on a lark ; dull care was relegated to the 
bow-wows, and no obstacle was allowed to stand in the 
way of the full and complete enjoyment of the pros- 
pective picnic. 

We traveled via the Harwich route from London to 
Antwerp, arriving in the latter city after a voyage of 
eleven hours on smooth waters. 

Antwerp is a grand old city on the river Scheldt, of 
two hundred and thirty thousand people. The tide 
here rises to the height of six or eight feet ; and the 
Scheldt, like the Clyde, appears as an arm of the sea, 
giving passage to vessels of the heaviest tonnage. 

Of course, on landing among a strange people, in a 
strange land, attention is drawn to the inhabitants ; 
their manners and customs are scrutinized, and the 
dress worn, if novel, is as much an object of interest to 
the! omnivorous tourist — whose digestive apparatus for 
sight-seeing is of forty-horse power and in constant 
motion — as the works of high art, -or the wonders of 
nature, which mainly serve to decoy one abroad. 



130 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The wooden clogs of the peasants impress one with 
their uncomely appearance and apparent unfitness for 
either utility or comfort. 

The milk-huckster and bread carts drawn by dogs 
(often a single dog) would be a novel sight to strangers 
even in benighted Lapland, but here in the abiding 
places of luxury and art, in one of nature's own gar- 
den spots, where the lowest order of beasts of burden 
would presumably be the donkey or the ox, the dog 
has had the " dignity of labor " thrust upon him ; and 
instead of being a worthless cur and vagabond like the 
majority of his species the world over, here in Belgium 
he is a bread winner and deserves to have the old 
Hebrew curse, that has for ages rested on the money 
value of his kind, reconsidered. 

The women are beasts of burden too, to a certain 
extent ; as, for example, I saw with my own eyes on 
the streets of Antwerp a woman, a child, and a dog 
drawing a heavily laden cart. 

Bareheaded women perform the menial task of 
sweeping the streets, and in the harvest fields use 
hook and sickle, and bind up the sheaves as dutifully 
as they would bind up the wounds of a friend. 

Menial service of this kind is confined to the peas- 
antry. Advance a step higher in the social scale, and 
you find them occupying positions more after the En- 
glish style — women at the bars and in all the stores, 



FROM X1LE TO NILE. 131 

and employed in vast numbers in the factories, especi- 
ally in the manufacture of linen goods and laces. 

The history of Belgium is an eventful one. It is the 
land of the Flamms, or Flemings, but is now so mixed 
up with other natioiialties, by reason of subjection to 
them, that it possesses at the present time but few 
distinctive characteristics. In its day it has been 
subject to Holland, Spain, Austria and France. In 
the cities the French language is universally spoken. 
Their standard of money is the same as the French, 
and their weights and measures likewise correspond. 

Antwerp, the second city, in population, in the 
kingdom, is well fortified, abounds in handsome boule- 
vards in the modern portion of the city, and can boast 
of a large number of beautiful buildings. 

The first place of special interest to which we were 
conducted was the grand Cathedral, said to be the 
finest church edifice in Belgium. It was commenced 
in 1352 and finished in 1530. The interior, like that 
of most buildings of its class, is gloomy. One looks 
up and down its naked aisles, four hundred feet long, 
and across its equally naked transept in some wonder- 
ment, his mind recurring to a period in its history 
when Philip II. held a chapter of the Golden Fleece 
here. It was said of this gay monarch that in spite 
of his love for Isabel of Portugal, whom Ke married, 
he had not banished from his heart a cherished mis- 
tress at Bruges, whose wit and rare beauty had capti- 



132 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

vated him — although her hair was red. He had prom- 
ised to hand her " golden locks " down to posterity ; 
and so established the order of the Golden Fleece. 
Then one thinks of the time when the great Napoleon 
entered these doors and robbed it of its chief attrac- 
tion, namely, two of the great masterpieces of Rubens, 
the " Elevation of the Cross," and the " Descent from 
the Cross," which were carted off to Paris as trophies 
of the war ; but on the downfall of the gray-eyed man 
of destiny, were returned by order of Lord Wellington. 
Of course, this little episode only adds to their value 
and importance. 

The guide who was to take us over Antwerp, and 
explain and point out all objects of interest to us, grew 
so elated at the prospect of reaping a big harvest from 
such a ripe and fruitful field as our party presented, 
that by the time we had our lunch and were ready for 
business he was totally incapable of performing his 
functions. The prospect was too overpowering for his 
intellect, and he tried to hold himself down with a 
keg of beer — and succeeded. The Count, our very 
efficient courier, was thoroughly disgusted, and pranced 
around like a gladiator until he was furnished with 
another one, who, though he might get tangled in his 
English was proof against getting tangled in his legs. 

In addition to the two exquisite paintings by that 
prolific old master Rubens, a third one is here shown, 
" The Assumption." In these works of acknowledged 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 133 

greatness, the artist has portrayed, in full life-size, the 
features of the whole Rubens family, father, mother, 
sister, self and two wives ; he has even remembered 
the dog. Well, I rather like that, for who comes so 
near one's own conception of a Madonna, as one's own 
mother, or to one of the Marys as his own sister or 
perhaps his wife ! And who knows but that Rubens 
possessed that blind love for his dog that lends to the 
character of Rip Van Winkle such a charm, who in 
finding that all had forgotten him, bethought him 
of a friend who he knew would still be faithful — his 
dog Schneider. 

Peter Paul Rubens was born at Siegen, in County 
Nassau, in 1577. He died at Antwerp in 1640, his 
remains reposing in the church of St. Jaques. 

Van Dyck and Teniers also dwelt here ; all three 
of these great masters of the art sublime have their 
lives commemorated by handsome .statues which adorn 
the streets, sharing the honors in this respect with 
King Leopold. 

There are many quaint wood carvings, nearly all 
life-size, in the Cathedral, relics of an art that flour- 
ished ages and ages before the invention of oil paint- 
ing, by Jean Van Eyck, gave such an impetus to art. 

Close by the Cathedral, is the noted Well Canopy, 
made of hammered iron, by Quentin Massys, in the 
fifteenth century. There is a legend connected with 
the life of Massys, which, in view of the career of this 



134 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

wonderful man, deserves to be related. Massy s was a 
blacksmith ; and, as the story comes to me, in the 
brokenest of English, the lover of a maid of high 
degree. The artisan asked her hand in marriage, but 
the father, more ambitious than the daughter, being a 
patron of high art then in its zenith, swore a round 
oath that no man should marry his daughter unless he 
had proven his ability to paint a picture that should 
win the first prize. 

Massy s, nothing daunted by a rebuff which in effect 
seemed practically to rule him out of the race, in an 
incredibly brief space of time produced a picture of 
such undoubted merit as to convince the fastidious 
parent that in the artist blacksmith he had struck a 
bonanza. There is certainly no discount on that su- 
perb painting, the work of his hands, " Lot Tempted 
by His Daughters." Quentin Massys was born here 
in 1460, and here he died in 1530. St. Paul's Church 
presents some attractive features of wood carving, 
paintings, and a fine organ. Its facade borders some- 
what on the grotesque, with its representation of grot- 
toes containing allegorical figures, niches filled with 
statues, and lava-like blocks of stone irregularly piled 
up, Vesuvius fashion. 

In the closing hour that remained to us before our 
departure for Brussels, we were shown the ancient 
palace of Charles V., and conducted by devious ways 
through narrow, crooked streets to the oldest house in 



FEOM NILE TO NILE. 135 

Antwerp, then to the house where the painter Van 
Dyck was born in 1599. He died in London in 1644, 
although some claim that his death occurred in this 
old house. 

Antwerp was the birth-place of David Teniers, the 
elder, who died here in 1649, and of his son David 
Teniers, who died in Brussels in 1690. David Jr. in- 
herited the family talent, but became more renowned 
as an artist than either his father or his uncle Julian. 
One recognizes his productions at once by the partiality 
he has shown for peasant life and gay tavern scenes. 
We leave here for pastures new, feeling that we have 
not cropped this so closely as the rich herbage war- 
rants, leaving to others the full pleasure of what was 
denied us. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



BRUSSELS. 



Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is only about one 
hour's ride from Antwerp. It contains a population 
of four hundred thousand, and bears the reputation 
of being not only a delightful resort for tourists, but a 
pleasant abiding place for that class of the English 
speaking race which is more at home in a foreign land 
than in the country to which it owes allegiance. I 
have never been in so handsome a city — the contrast 
to London in wide boulevards, beautiful residences, 
and extensive shops, or stores, being very favorable to 
this inland city. The public buildings, too, are mar- 
vels of beauty, magnificence and convenience, mostly 
of modern construction, but of such elegance of design, 
both externally and internally, as to engage the atten- 
tion fully as much as those erected in medieval ages. 

The city hall is an extensive white stone building, 
erected between the years 1402 and 1443, with a spire 
three hundred and seventy feet high, topped by a 
colossal statue of St. Michael. The tapestries here 
are the finest we have yet seen, and in their rich, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 137 

warm hues, distinctness of contour, and faithful rep- 
resentation of character and expression, scarcely sur- 
passed by the best oil painting, show to what a state 
of perfection this glorious art has attained, fostered, 
as it has been, by both church and state ; for without 
the encouragement of either, or both, none of the old 
masters, I apprehend, would have had his genius so 
fully recoguized by the world, nor would it have been 
possible in the days in which they lived to prosecute 
their noble vocation without the aid and encourage- 
ment of those two great and powerful benefactors. 

We were conducted into the elegant banqueting hall 
of this superb edifice, the same in which the Duchess 
of Richmond gave the grand ball, and at which the 
Duke of Wellington was a guest, on the memorable 
night of June 15th, 1815, when a courier, splashed 
with mud, strode into the festive hall and delivered a 
message to the Iron Duke, which, ere an hour had 
flown by, caused the utmost consternation among the 
guests of the gay Duchess. 

"Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro, 

And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, 
And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago, 
Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness." 

From here we passed into the official chamber of 
the burgomeister, or mayor, of Brussels, and found 
ourselves just in the nick of time to witness the civil 
rite of marriage performed by his excellency, in full 
uniform, assisted by other officials, and supported by 



138 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

four of the king's soldiers with muskets. We remained 
only long enough to see the nuptial knot tied between 
two couples, for there were others present with their 
parents and friends who were only waiting their turn 
to occupy the silken cushions upon which none sat 
except those who had been elected to travel life's path- 
way of roses and thorns together. 

Opposite to the Hotel de Ville is the Maison du Eoi, 
built by Charles V. in 1425. Here in front of the 
building, which we did not enter, the Counts Egmont 
and Home suffered decapitation in the sixteenth cen- 
tury. 

In the square of which the two last named buildings 
formed a part were held tournaments in the fifteenth 
century, and many of the houses, which are old but in 
good preservation, were built and occupied by various 
guilds and corporations more than three hundred 
years ago. 

We next proceeded to the Palais de la Nation, built 
by order of Empress Maria Theresa in 1783, mostly 
destroyed by fire in 1883, since rebuilt in greater mag- 
nificence. It is used as the capital building for ses- 
sions of the senate and house of representatives. The 
stairways are broad and of fine marble. The halls 
and vestibules, as well as doors and ceilings, of daz- 
zling whiteness, and the doors, ten feet in height, of 
solid mahogany. The senate chamber is decidedly the 
most complete, appropriate, and elegant room of this 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 139 

special character within my knowledge. It is not 
large, but sufficiently so to meet all the requirements 
of a country not more than half as large as Kansas, 
though possessing five millions of people. The mem- 
bers sit in semi-circle, facing the presiding officer. 
The chairs are luxurious, upholstered in red plush, 
and the desks are models of the cabinet makers' skill. 
The panels in the background, on the semi-circular 
wall are embellished with portraits of kings, queens 
and emperors, who have figured conspicuously in the 
history of the Netherlands since the days of Charle- 
magne. 

In the foreground, or above the President's platform, 
as well as to the right and left, are fine paintings of a 
historical character. The gallery, likewise semi-circu- 
lar, is supported by marble columns, and contains 
boxes for royalty, embassadors and visitors, and as 
regards comfort and elegance is superior to either 
chamber in Westminster. At the time of our visit the 
lower house was in session and but one of our party 
gained admittance. The other twenty -two are confi- 
dent that he freely administered taffy, when lingering 
in the rear, to the Belgian beauty who seemed to 
occupy the position of charge-d'affaires. We missed 
him while inspecting some fine tapestries in the smok- 
ing room of the Senate, and when we had just con- 
cluded our inspection of the Senate chamber he put in 
an appearance with the very image of childlike inno- 



140 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

cence stamped upon his countenance. It takes an M. 
C, who knows all the ropes, to enter where common 
angels fear to tread. 

We were conducted into the various committee 
rooms, which are more like elegant parlors than any- 
thing else I can compare them with. In each of them 
are magnificent paintings, as large as the side of a 
house, and each one worth a small fortune. For a 
little recreation, our whole party was set down at a 
fine lace making establishment, where none but hand 
made fabrics were produced and sold. Lace making, 
as practised in Brussels, is a fine art. In the estima- 
tion of the select world of fashion, a genuine, first-class 
article of hand made lace ranks next to diamonds. 
The dry goods stores of America are over stocked 
with lace — such lace as you can over burden an ox- 
team with at ten cents a yard. It bears about the 
same relation to real lace that paste does to diamonds, 
or a chromo to one of Miss Jekyll's best paintings. 
We saw a number of women wearing out their eyes 
and their youth at this underpaid labor ; one, in par- 
ticular, who was engaged on a pattern requiring six 
months of the most tedious and pains-taking work to 
complete a single yard, for which her employers would 
get five hundred francs or one hundred dollars, she 
herself earning about forty-five cents a day. 

Of course the gentlemen of the party, when solicited 
to buy, pleaded the old chestnut of having left their 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 141 

purses at home on the piano ; but the ladies, realizing 
the importance, financially speaking, of buying at 
headquarters, and knowing a good thing when they 
saw it, had every saleswoman in the house, who could 
speak any English at all, busily engaged in displaying 
her wares, and if that house was not reduced to pen- 
ury and want, by reason of the great sacrifice in prices, 
it was not the fault of our American women, who, for 
the whole balance of the day, were in ecstasies over 
little parcels that you could carry in your watch 
pocket, the equivalent of which, in greenbacks, would 
make double the bulk. You can form some conception 
of the magnitude and importance of the lace industiy 
of Brussels, if you credit the statement that no 
less than one hundred and thirty thousand women 
gain a livelihood by the use of the bobbin. 

I shall have little to say of the churches of this fine 
city, having visited only the cathedral of St. Grudule, 
which was founded in the eleventh century, and con- 
tains a handsome pulpit carved in wood, made in 1699, 
and representing the expulsion from Paradise ; also, 
some fine tapestries and beautiful stained windows. 
About all the churches here are Roman Catholic. 

We were well well repaid for our time in a visit to 
the Wiertz Museum, which contains nothing but the 
works of this eccentric genius who died in 1865 and 
left the entire labor of a life time, a few portraits ex- 
cepted, to the government, on condition that they 



142 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

should be preserved in the museum aud exhibited free 
of charge. I doubt if there are mauy Americans 
familiar with the name and productions of Wiertz 5 
but after viewing miles and miles of paintings executed 
by almost every artist known to fame, I confess my 
ignorance up to this time of the existence of these 
works, about one hundred in number, and my perfect 
delight at the surprise which was in store for me here. 
The history of Wiertz is as strange as some of his 
paintings. At three years of age he developed a won- 
derful talent for drawing and wood carving, and when 
only fourteen there was no master in Belgium compe- 
tent to instruct him. 

He made wood cuts of his own drawings and printed 
from them, and his musical talent was something sur- 
prising. But the great aim and object of his life was 
to surpass Rubens. It is a question in the minds of 
many connoisseurs if he did not equal him in his mas- 
terpiece which hangs in this gallery, " The Greeks and 
Trojans contending for the body of Patroclus." The 
figures are colossal, and the expression on each coun- 
tenance, as well as the attitude given to each character 
portrayed, is truly fascinating. In many of his best 
works the figures are grotesque, some of them literally 
frightful, and to further increase this aspect, they were 
arranged by the eccentric artist to be viewed only 
through a glass that may or may not possess magnify- 
ing power. One of these pictures was too horrible to 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 143 

look at. It represents a mother driven to insanity by 
hunger. She is seated on the floor of her wretched 
hovel. In her lap is her infant partially covered up. 
In her hand is the dripping knife with which she has 
severed one of the infant's legs, which is thrust into a 
pot of boiling water heated by the clothing stripped 
from the babe ; the little shoe has fallen oft' and lies 
in plain view. The expression on the mother's face is 
demoniacal. 

" The Young Sorceress " is such a superb piece of 
flesh coloring that I have added a photographic copy 
to my ever increasing collection. It is, however, of 
that class which recently has fallen under the bann of 
Mr. Anthony Comstock, who should have his ideas 
recast by an inspection of the art galleries of Europe. 
I made no especial note of a score or more of gems in 
this gallery, which I regret, for no man will ever see 
the originals or any pictures from the hand of this 
artist unless he sees them in the museum at Brussels, 
the exceptions before mentioned being portraits painted 
as " pot boilers." 

Wiertz was poor all his life. He was offered for pic- 
tures prices that would have placed him in affluent 
circumstances, but he loved these creations of his own 
brain and skillful hand as a mother loves her children. 
When it came to parting with his treasures, money, 
though hunger gnawed his stomach, had no tempta- 
tion. He lived for art and was beholden to neither 



144 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

priest nor king. Rubens lived for art and was the pet 
and beneficiary of both. In many respects Wiertz 
resembled Turner, but in point of genius and excellence 
of production was, in my judgment, Turner's superior. 
But this is not the only collection of pictures on 
exhibition at Brussels. The Palace of Fine Arts 
contains almost as many pictures as the National 
Gallery in London. I counted about fifteen by Eubens, 
others by Teniers, Van Byck, Rembrandt, De Crayer, 
Massy s, and a host of others, mostly of the Dutch and 
Flemish school. We tarried so long here, that we 
failed to gain admittance to the Palace of Justice, a 
magnificent new building that stands on quite an 
elevation overlooking the city. It occupies more 
ground than St. Peter's at Rome, and cost eight 
million and a half dollars. We rode past the 
King's palace and numerous statues and places made 
historical, not of special interest to an American, and 
the following day made a pilgrimage to Waterloo. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



AVATERLOO. 



Waterloo is distant from Brussels about twelve or 
fourteen miles. The transfer from the hotel to the 
station furnished about the only episode, thus far, of 
an exciting character. We were bowling along the 
principal street of the city, eight of us in an open 
conveyance, at a 2:40 gait, when our team ran into a 
reckless young chap with a mattress on his head, who 
had miscalculated either his speed or ours and thus 
came to grief. To try to avert a calamity our driver 
dexterously threw his horses, though not in time to 
enable the young man to escape unscathed. The vic- 
tim was led off limping, the mattress was rescued 
without serious damage, and the driver, who had got 
his horses on their feet again, was whipping them up 
to gain lost time, when a mob swooped down upon us, 
seized the bridles of the horses and made such dem- 
onstrations of wrath as made more than one of our 
party turn pale. Things looked quite serious when a 
squad of police armed with swords rushed into the 
crowd, motioned the men to let go the bridles of the 

10 



146 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

horses, and after taking the number of the coupe, held 
back the crowd and bade the driver to go ahead, and 
he did so with a right good will. 

The train bore ns along rapidly over a beautiful 
landscape denuded of fences, presenting at this season 
of the year the appearance of a many hued piece of 
Mosaic work on a stupendous scale, every acre of land 
being in cultivation in a succession of small squares or 
strips, ranging in extent from one to ten acres. There 
seemed to be no dividing lines between these well 
cultivated gardens and farms, and mixed husbandry, it 
was evident, universally prevailed. Cast the eye in 
any direction and the view that met it would be 
something like this : a strip of rye, ready for the 
sickle ; a strip of wheat just past the milk state, a 
patch of potatoes, another of beets, and another of 
clover ; and this method of small farming I found to be 
the custom wherever I traveled through Belgium. 

The land is farmed for all there is in it, and counting 
turnips and cabbage as a crop, is made to do double 
duty in a season. The rye, cut close to the ground, as 
is the invariable custom, and placed in shocks, is so tall 
that on first sight one is deluded into the belief that it 
is a field of Indian corn treated on the Pennsylvania 
plan, in which fodder enters into the economy of the 
barn yard. The wheat grows to the height of a 
woman's head, and the fields are carefully gleaned by 
children and old men, so that what goes to waste on a 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 147 

Kansas grain field of some magnitude, would feed a 
family here for a season. 

Wherever I go in niy rambles, I am struck by the 
close economy practised by all people on this side of 
the water. Nothing is allowed to go to waste, and 
this applies to hotels as well as individuals. Instead 
of a great variety of meats, vegetables, etc., being 
placed before you promiscuously, in small dishes, you 
are limited in both selection and quantity, and you are 
very likely to eat just what you are offered (or else 
starve), served in half a dozen courses; instead of 
having the major part of it returned to the kitchen, to 
be hauled off as swill by some Black Joe and returned 
to your table months afterward, transformed into the 
choicest pork chops and sausage. The refuse from a 
European hotel would metamorphose a " chuffy," well 
contented, Kansas fed, Poland China pig into such an 
unsightly *' elmpeeler " that death in any other form 
than by starvation would be a relief to it. 

For example, our morning repast consists of bread, 
butter and coffee ; the noon-day meal of bread, cold 
meat, and sparkling — water ; the evening meal, or 
dinner, of soup and a clean plate ; fish and a clean 
plate ; meat, potatoes, cauliflower, and a clean plate ; 
chicken, lettuce, and a clean plate ; pudding, or ices, 
and a clean plate ; cheese, butter, and a clean plate ; 
and finally fruit, nuts, and cake, and another clean 
plate. Only water with the addition of ice is served, 



148 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

although the frequent popping of corks to be heard 
might create a suspicion that other liquids could be 
obtained by interviewing the head waiter. 

Such a bill of fare as I have described will cost the 
individual about $2.50 per day exclusive of wines, of 
which a good brand will stand an epicure from $1.50 
to $3.00 per bottle, although I am of the opinion that 
the bulk of the wines used at the European hotels, 
exclusive of vin ordinaire, does not exceed seventy- 
five cents a bottle. But we leave further reflections 
pertaining to the cuisine of the continental hotels for 
future comment. 

Instead of leaving the train at Waterloo station we 
go on two or three miles further and here we find 
conveyances to carry us to the battle ground. Before 
arriving there, however, a high, cone-shaped hill with 
a bronze lion on its apex greets us, and this object, 
which can be seen for miles, is the principal monument 
to commemorate the decisive engagement that occurred 
here June 18, 1815, between the French, under Napo- 
leon, and the Allied armies commanded by Wellington. 
We dismounted, walked to the base of Lion Hill, as it 
is called, and ascended a steep flight of steps possibly 
two hundred and fifty in number. This artificial 
elevation of earth has a perpendicular altitude of one 
hundred and fifty feet, a circumference at the base of 
half a mile, consumed the work of three years, and 
cost three millions of francs. The lion, which is of 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 149 

huge dimensions, stands on a pedestal of granite 
and marble. Our guide, who had grown gray in re- 
peating the oft told tale to visitors, was vain-glorious 
over the fact that his father, at the time the battle 
came off, was seventeen years old and witnessed the 
event from the back of the lion. We very naturally 
mistook the lion for the British emblem, but it ap- 
pears that it was placed there by Holland and the 
do wn ward droop of its tail and the right foot resting 
on a cannon ball were emphatically pronounced by the 
guide to be characteristics of a Dutch lion. As the 
" Dutch have taken Holland," if you will pardon the 
resurrection of the old chestnut, we were willing they 
should have the credit of this lion, particularly, after 
a second thought, when it occurred to us that the Brit- 
ish specimens were always represented with the tail 
erect. 

One has a grand view from the top of this huge 
mound, not only of the brief extent of the territory 
over which the battle was fought, but of miles upon 
miles of undulating landscape and red-tiled villages 
and hamlets. The situation, the day before the con- 
tending armies took possession of the ground, would 
have appeared to a man in a balloon much as it 
appeared to us, for the intervening sixty -two years 
have effected but few changes. Some of the timber 
has been cut away and earth sufficient to complete the 
mound has leveled a portion of the ground where the 



150 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

French cavalry were engulfed in the sunken road. 
There were the same fields checkered as I have before 
described with waving grain and succulent roots. The 
hamlets have not perceptibly grown or diminished. 
The cross roads where the Iron Duke made his head- 
quarters, the farm house where the Man of Destiny 
directed the movements of the French army, the fields 
where the Scotch Greys stood like a stone wall, the 
spot where Wellington uttered the memorable words, 
"Up guards and at them," are all the same. But 
there is one spot where not so much the ravages 
of time as the devastating hand of war made a change, 
and that is the hamlet of Hugumont, which to me, as 
the guide described it, was the most interesting portion 
of the battlefield. This hamlet was of brick material 
and enclosed with a wall, say eight feet high, furnishing 
a protection to three or four hundred men. This was 
Wellington's right wing, facing south. Between this 
wall and the French line was a heavy stretch of timber 
through which it was impossible for Napoleon to push 
his artillery; when his infantry charged through these 
woods amidst the smoke of the contending armies, 
they mistook the red brick walls for the scarlet coats 
of the British and did not discover their mistake until 
they were right on it, with no power to scale it, or 
batter it down. 

As a natural consequence the French line, rather 
than fall back, crowded to their right to get clear of 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 151 

this obstacle, and in doing so ran into a trap where 
they were exposed to a cross fire, and in less time than 
I have taken to describe this episode, the French had 
lost 2,000 killed and were repulsed from this part of 
the field. I could easily see why Hngnmont was held 
so tenaciously by Wellington. It was the key appar- 
ently to the whole position, and enabled him with a 
force only one-third as great as that of Napoleon, to 
hold his line of battle all through that memorable day, 
until the last fatal charge of the French, as Blucher 
hove in sight, when he advanced it over piles of the 
slain to the ground occupied by Napoleon, whence all 
had fled but the Old Guard. 

With a glass you can sweep every portion of the field 
and discern the smallest object, but we thought it 
worth while to descend from our exalted position, and 
after lunch walk down to Hugumont, whose walls are 
sadly picked in holes by the relic hunter. The chapel 
suffered more in the battle than other portions, as 
Napoleon, by elevating his pieces, was enabled to 
throw a few shells into the enclosure, which set it on 
fire, and it is now in ruins. As we stood in the court 
yard its gates were thrown open to admit a wagon 
loaded with sheaves of rye, this still being a habitation 
for peasantry who reap also quite another kind of a 
harvest in the sale of photographs and walking canes. 

We spent a very enjoyable day here ; to me it was 
especially so. We then returned to Brussels, the streets 



152 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of which presented a gay and animated appearance, 
being enlivened more than usual by reason of a 
military review then in progress, and likewise a fair in 
the interest of which booths had been erected on a 
suburban street for the distance of a half a mile. 
Here the fakir, the Punch and Judy outfits, and all the 
modern devices usually found on festive occasions 
were hold high carnival. 



CHAPTER XX. 



COLOGNE THE RHINE. 



Our route from Brussels led us through eastern 
Belgium where the landscape, for the most part, was a 
continuation of the checker board style of agriculture, 
the exceptions being where we struck one of the great 
coal basins of this region where mining and manu- 
factures are pushed with great vigor, and on a 
stupendous scale, carrying one back to scenes of a 
similar character in Pennsylvania, and elsewhere in 
our own land. 

An incident occurred, as the train halted in a driving 
rain storm at the first town on our entrance into 
Germany, which caused no little mirth to the occupants 
of our compartment, being the enforcement of the 
revenue laws upon four "innocents" engaged in the 
absorbing game of whist. A revenue officer entered 
the car, seized the cards and carried them off. In the 
course of time he returned them stamped, and, 
demanded twenty-eight cents. As the cards only cost 
originally twenty-five cents, it would have been 
economy to abandon them to their, fate. The owner, 



154 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

however, irate as he was, would have paid twice 
that amount, rather than have the amusement of 
the party cut short, even in a manner smacking so 
much of the stand-and-deliver style. This trifling 
incident of travel is merely given as a contrast to what 
occurred later on when we arrived at Cologne, and 
where our personal effects were subject to the lynx 
eyes of the custom house officials. Each man and 
woman stood by their baggage arranged on a long 
table, key in hand, ready to expose their unwashed 
linen, when an "insult" from our courier, placed 
where it would do the most good, relieved all anxiety 
and permitted us, without further delay, to mount the 
coaches that would set us down at the grand Cathedral 
for which Cologne is celebrated, and afterwards deliver 
us at our hotel. The exterior aspect of this wonderful 
architectural feat is grand beyond description. I might 
enter into detail and fill a chapter that would contain 
nothing else than praise of the finest purely Gothic 
structure in the world. It will suffice, however, to say 
that two elegant towers are each 500 feet in length, 
with stained windows of enormous value, and, of 
course, the orthodox designs. It was. commenced in 
1248 and only received the finishing touches in 1880. 
The next morning before breakfast we all repaired 
to the church of St. Ursula, where the unfortunate 
princess of that name, together with eleven 'thousand 
virgins, yielded up her sweet life as a willing sacrifice 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 155 

on the altar of religion. Their bones are contained in 
the museum of the church, arrayed on shelves, and 
there, also, are the bones and skulls of many saints, 
about whose names cluster a sacredness only enhanced 
by these relics snatched from the decay of centuries 
past, and exhibited to dupe and skeptic alike — for the 
same consideration. We were shown two thorns, 
vouched for as taken from the crown that was thrust 
upon the Savior's brow. A piece of the vesture worn 
by Him at the crucifixion, and for which the soldiers 
cast lots, and one of the water pots used at the 
marriage feast in Cana form parts of the unique 
collection. Wonderful must be the faith and appalling 
the credulity and superstition of the masses of the 
old world who accept these relics as genuine ; but 
what must one think of an educated priesthood who 
perpetuate the fraud from year to year? Of course, 
one would like to believe the assertions so boldly made 
by the monk in charge, but the evidence is not 
conclusive, and the glaring imposture has a tendency 
to weaken one's reverence for other things sacred. 

Cologne is the sixth city in Germany in point of 
population, and judging from the activity in building 
operations has not yet reached its zenith. The old 
portion of the city is about as antiquated as American 
novelty seekers could desire, and the forty stinks of 
Cologne are by no manner of means a foul slander on 
the fair city. I counted up to seventeen different 



156 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

kinds of odor that assailed my olfactories in a brief 
walk through the more ancient part of the city. 
It must not be understood that these odors were all 
offensive, or that I became overpowered when I stopped 
short at seventeen. Cologne water is vended here 
more as a souvenir than an article of the toilet. The 
shops of Cologne are good, and I want to say right 
here, before I forget it, that the recreation called 
shopping is the most delightful occupation we met 
with ; I really think the ladies of our party prefer it to 
hours spent in gorgeous picture galleries and gloomy 
old churches. The pleasure of spending money (not 
the faculty alone) is an attribute of some natures that 
is not paralleled by any other desire. 

Cologne, I believe, manufactures no specialties. A 
mania for such things influencing all tourists, and the 
sights not being numerous, we departed the day after 
our arrival by steamer up the Rhine as far as Biebrich, 
hence by coach only a few miles to Weisbedan, where 
a halt was made over Sunday. 

We had a lovely day on the water, and enjoyed to 
the fullest extent of earthly pleasure our voyage up 
the picturesque Ehine. There is no scenery in Amer- 
ica like it. It is art, poetry and music combined, pre- 
sented through the medium of the eye. The Hudson 
from Albany to New York is a succession of beautiful 
views, with just legendary and historical lore sufficient 
to touch us on the poetic side of our nature, but it 



FROM XILE TO NILE. 157 

lacks the charm of antiquity. The Rhine possesses 
all the bold scenery of the Hudson. There are castles 
and old ruins perched on rocky cliffs that were the 
strongholds of powerful barons as far back as the 
twelfth century. The frowning walls of some old 
fortress or castle look down on the red-tiled villages, 
and the old Roman walls that nearly surround them 
seem as lasting as the eternal hills. 

The grandest scenes commences at Coblentz, and 
across the river from that city, on the heights, are the 
strongest and best constructed fortifications I have yet 
seen. Xot all the castles on the Rhine are in ruins by 
any means ; quite a number which I will not take 
time to designate are owned by royalty; and, though 
enveloped in the cloak of antiquity, still possess such 
characteristics as to make them objects of great in- 
terest. 

It was about seven o'clock in the evening when we 
arrived at Bingen, " Fair Bingen on the Rhine." That 
refrain has been ringing in my ears since boyhood. 

" I saw the blue Rhine sweep along, 

I heard, or seemed to hear, 
The German songs we used to sing, 

In chorus sweet and clear; 
And down the pleasant river, 

And up the slanting hill, 
The echoing chorus sounded through 

The evening calm and still. 
And her glad blue eyes were on me, 

As we passed, with friendly talk, 
Down many a path beloved of yore, 

And well remembered walk: 



158 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

And her little hand lay lightly, 

Confidingly in mine; 
But we'll meet no more at Bingen — 

Loved Bingen on the Rhine." 

Snatches of the old song were heard on all parts of 
the steamer, and sentiment, that some affect to despise, 
ran riot as we realized that the beautiful little city, 
enshrined in our hearts through the medium of a simple 
song, lay before us, overlooked by the grand ruins of 
castle Klopp, where Henry IV. was confined by the 
treachery of his son. 

Wiesbaden is not on the Rhine, but distant about 
five miles, and may be described in a very few words, 
as an inland watering place with beautiful residences, 
lovely drives and handsome parks. 

On Monday, bright and early, a few of us took a 
train in advance of the party, bound for Heidelberg, 
and stopped off for a couple of hours at Frankfort on 
the Main. We were driven pretty generally over the 
city, and were shown many places of interest, such as 
Goethe's house, the building where Luther preached 
his famous sermon before his departure for Worms, 
the house where the Rothschilds were born, etc. Of 
course we visited, briefly, a picture gallery, were 
driven across the bridge that has stood for five hund- 
red years and is embellished with a very ancient 
statue of Charlemagne. I regretted the haste we were 
compelled to exercise in visiting a city which has long 
been regarded as one of the great money centers not 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 159 

only of Germany but of the world. Failing to con- 
nect, as we expected, with the balance of our party at 
the specified time, we took the first train that came 
along and went as far as Darmstadt. A rapid walk of 
a mile through the town revealed handsome streets 
and fine buildings. Here the party again became 
united and without further stoppage we reached the 
classic city of Heidelberg. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HEIDELBERG MUNICH. 



The great university located in this city has perhaps 
made its name more familiar to American ears than 
many larger and otherwise more important cities of 
the continent, but aside from its educational character- 
istics Heidelberg possesses many features dear to the 
heart of the tourist. In the first place, its origin dates 
back to the Roman period and coming up through 
successive eras of peace and warfare, now in possession 
of one dominant power, and again of another, has 
suffered, perhaps, as much as any city in existence. It 
lies in the valley of the Neckar, and the mountains 
seem to hem it in completely. Besides the great uni- 
versity there are two or three other schools, and a 
normal school somewhat on the plan of our state nor- 
mal, but admitting only females designing to prepare 
themselves for teaching. 

Much has been said about the time honored custom 
in the university of Heidelberg of resenting the slight- 
est insult, or fancied insult, by resort to the duel by 
sword; and if the scarred and disfigured countenances 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 161 

of at least a large proportion of the students we met 
on the streets are not misinterpreted, the custom still 
prevails. I am told that this high toned species of 
mutilation is performed at the gymnasium, where 
along with other athletic exercises that of handling 
the dueling sword with ease, grace and precision is 
taught as a line art. This institution is not connected 
with the university, though patronized almost exclu- 
sively by its students. The university was founded 
in 1386 and its course of lectures is attended by more 
than eight hundred students from nearly all parts of 
the civilized world. 

The great attraction which Heidelberg possesses for 
tourists is confined more particularly to the old castle 
than perhaps all other objects combined. It is a huge 
pile of masonry, standing on a rocky declivity over- 
looking the city, some three hundred and thirty feet 
above the Neckar, and was founded in 1294, but im- 
proved from time to time by kings and electors until it 
looks more like a strong fortress with high turrets and 
stone bastions than a simple castle. It requires con- 
siderable leg muscle to explore its numerous halls, 
chambers, chapel and towers, but one feels well repaid 
for any excessive demand on his strength, for this is the 
grandest ruin in all Germany, and nowhere else have 
I seen any which, for magnitude and architectural 
beauty, will compare with it. 

11 



162 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The extensive wine cellars are one of its leading 
features, and here is the great tun, a huge wooden 
cask with a capacity of three hundred thousand bottles 
of wine. In 1689 the French in retreat blew up a por- 
tion of the castle, and seventy-five years later a thun- 
derbolt completed the work of destruction. 

We missed the morning train for Munich and loit- 
ered around until afternoon, which occasioned a stop- 
over of six hours at Wirzburg, and compelled us to 
take the train a little after midnight and ride until 
eight o'clock the next morning. Our car had two 
compartments, into one of which the gentlemen were 
crowded to sit out the journey, whilst the ladies fared 
no better in the other. For my part I watched my 
chance when all seemed to be in the land of Nod ; then 
I slipped from my cramped position on the seat to one 
of ease on the floor, and with a fellow traveler's grip 
for a pillow, managed to pass away the night in partial 
oblivion. 

• On awaking in the morning before sunrise, I noticed 
the peasants already in the fields. The patches in cul- 
tivation bore a resemblance to the agriculture of Bel- 
gium, and the plowing and reaping, as well as other 
menial work seemed to be performed largely by the 
peasant women. The somber colored houses of north 
Germany had given way to those almost uniformly 
painted or washed white. The church spires were less 
pretentious and usually of the character seen in Euro- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 163 

pean countries on the Jewish synagogues, resembling 
an inverted balloon. In the dim distance against the 
sky could be discernad the Alps, and the cool wind 
that blew from its glaciers, even at this early hour, was 
none too chilly. 

It was a tired, woe-begone looking party of " Cook- 
ies " that was set down in time for breakfast at the 
hotel in Munich, where we were to spend three days. 
Dissipation of this kind is not conducive to good looks, 
but a few hours on a comfortable bed, with the moun- 
tain breeze stealing in at the open windows, lulled us 
(the ladies, I mean) into a " beauty sleep," and at 
luncheon each one came up to the table smiling and 
apparently none the worse for that long, dreary night 
journey through Bavaria. 

Munich is a city of nearly three hundred thousand 
inhabitants, situated on the Isar, a tributary of the 
Danube. The river is narrow and swift, calling to 
mind the Hohenlinden of Campbell, so familiar to 
all school boys, 

" The Isar rolling rapidly." 

Munich occupies a high position in the arts and 
sciences, and very much of the interest felt in visiting 
this city centers in that fact. There are two fine public 
galleries of paintings here, one representing ancient 
works, the other, modern. Then the king's palace, 
which is open to visitors on application for a guide, is 



164 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

not only a picture gallery containing many rare paint- 
ings, but is a store house and treasury of valuables, 
and was the most beautifully adorned and furnished 
edifice I have ever seen. On entering the first room 
one is struck by the beauty of a life-size portrait of a 
dashing looking officer, possibly thirty years of age, 
who but a few years ago, in a fit of insanity, committed 
suicide. This was the young King Louis. The pre- 
sent king, by the way, is also insane, the affairs of 
state being administered by a regent, the uncle of the 
king. 

The palace, in many respects, resembles Hampton 
Court, near London, described in a former chapter, 
except that this is in a better state of repair. There are 
no tapestries, but the frescoes are perfectly grand, and 
the floors of such exquisite inlaid work as to make it 
appear like a sacrilege to walk upon them. Some of 
the walls are finished in bas relief, and the columns 
that support the galleries and ceilings are of a richly 
mottled marble. The throne room where the regent 
gives audience, is lined on each side with statues of 
the male ancestors of the ruling dynasty. They are 
life-size, cast from cannon captured from the Greeks, 
and are heavily burnished with gold. The throne 
itself is a marvel of grandeur, and for once in my life 
I sat where kings are accustomed to receive their peti- 
tioners. There is one other room here that deserves 
special mention for the reason that it is the most gor- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 165 

geous bedchamber any of us had ever seen, and be- 
cause it was occupied by Napoleon the Great, and is 
just as he left it. The bed he slept on, with coverings 
and canopy, is rated as the finest in the world. It cost 
one hundred and twenty-live thousand dollars, and 
required the labor of forty people ten years to complete 
it. The chairs and sofa correspond with the bed in all 
respects. 

There is another room called the Hall of Charle- 
magne, which contains frescoes difficult to distinguish 
from oil paintings. It is said that no such frescoes 
have ever been produced elsewhere. There are so 
many rooms filled with pictures, frescoes, and bric-a- 
brac that I might just as well stop right here in my de- 
scription and leave the balance to your imagination. 
The gallery contains the paintings of the old masters, 
is very fine, and the best arranged as to classification, 
and with the best catalogue I have yet seen. 

There are fourteen pictures by Albert Durer, who 
was born in Nuremburg, 1471, and died in that city, 
1528. " The Death of Lucrece " was the one painting 
of this collection that struck my fancy, particularly as 
I had had an opportunity to compare works by two 
other noted artists on the same subject, and could not 
help noticing the superiority of Durer's work. Three 
are by the Dutch painter, Rembrandt, who was born 
in Lyden, 1607, and died in Amsterdam, 1669. " The 
Entombment " and " The Sacrifice of Isaac " are con- 



166 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

sidered among his best. I counted no less than sev- 
enty-eight pictures by Rubens. His best paintings 
here are " The Rape by Castor and Pollux," " Christ 
Enthroned upon the Clouds/' " The Fall of the 
Damned," and " The Last Judgment." 

There are five by Raphael, who was born in Urbino, 
Italy, 1483, died in Rome, 1520. His picture of the 
" Holy Family " is, perhaps, the best in this collection. 

Altogether there are fourteen hundred and forty- 
three paintings in this collection, and I know of noth- 
ing more pleasurable than to spend a good portion of a 
day viewing, the authenticated works of the greatest 
artists of their day and generation, and, perhaps, of all 
generations that follow after them, as they are exposed 
to view in this well appointed gallery, known as the 
Old Pinakothek, of Munich. 

The other gallery, distinguished as the New Royal 
Pinakothek, stands as a monument to the liberality of 
King Louis I., who bore the entire expense of the 
building from his private purse, being a sum equal to 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A great pat- 
ron of art, he spent a fortune in collecting the best 
modern works for this gallery. 

On a canvas of immense proportions is a painting 
of the Deluge, by Karl Schorn, who died at Munich in 
1850, leaving the lower and least important part of the 
picture unfinished. No painting by Rubens, and I 
have seen nearly all the masterpieces of this great art- 




A Murillo. 

allery in Munich. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 167 

ist, so enchained my attention as the awful grandeur 
of the scene where the last remnant of the race, save 
the eight souls floating away serenety in the ark of 
safety, led a forlorn hope up the rugged sides of the 
last pinnacle of the tallest mountain, and as the angry 
waves of the ever-advancing flood surged closer and 
closer about their feet, the stronger overriding the 
weak (fine illustrations of the survival of the fittest), 
struggled to the top only to meet their fate. The art- 
ist has well portrayed the passions of man in such an 
emergency — fear, hate, and despair. After that pic- 
ture I don't care for word painting, and I never want 
to hear another sermon on the Deluge. After a feast 
with the gods the soul abhors mediocrity. 

I have not intended to give undue prominence to 
this picture over one of equal merit, and by some con- 
sidered greater, painted by Wilhelm Kaulbach, who 
died in 1874. This picture is " The Destruction of 
Jerusalem by Titus." Raphael, Rubens, YanDyck, 
and others might have had the genius to produce a 
finer production of such a scene than Kaulbach. You 
have heard the irreverent chestnut, that " God might 
have created a better species of fruit than the straw- 
berry, but he never did." So with the picture in ques- 
tion. It is partly historical and partly allegorical, but 
the two are blended in accord with prophecy. 

The third one of the large paintings is " Thusnelda 
in the Triumphal Procession of Germanicus," by Karl 



168 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Von Piloty, who died at Munich about one year ago. 
It is of a historical character, portraying the firmness 
and courage of the German princess, who was betrayed 
by her own father, Segestus, into the hands of the 
great Roman general, Germanicus. 

I paid my respects to only one of the churches in 
Munich and then merely to see the three great frescoes 
executed expressly for Ludwig's church by Peter Cor- 
nelius. One of the side altar pictures represented the 
Roman soldiers throwing dice for our Savior's vesture. 
Our version says they " cast lots," but as that language 
fails to describe the mode, it never occurred to me be- 
fore that the little cubes of bone or ivory with black 
dots, in common use nowadays where chance is the 
umpire, dated back to a period so remote ; but one 
must live and learn. 

From this church we drove to the " Gate of Victory," 
a triple archway erected by King Louis I. to the Ba- 
varian army. It is built in imitation of the triumphal 
arch of Constantine in Rome, which I shall take occa- 
sion to describe when I reach it. The decorations are 
of white marble reliefs, and the whole is surmounted 
by the colossal figure of a woman standing in a chariot 
drawn by four huge lions, being cast in bronze. There 
is another gateway through which we passed, called 
the Propylsea, which is an imitation of the Acropolis 
at Athens, and cost a quarter of a million of dol- 
lars. The expense was borne by Louis I. The muni- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 169 

ficence of this king was simply marvelous, and the 
sums he expended in beautifying his capital would 
bankrupt any monarch of the present day. By him, 
or at least by his order, was erected that splendid 
Doric edifice named the " Hall of Fame/' containing 
busts of a large number of national celebrities. Imme- 
diately in its front stands the bronze statue of Bavaria, 
fifty-six feet or more in height. It represents a woman 
after the style of our Goddess of Liberty attended by a 
lion, on which rests one hand, whilst the other is up- 
lifted, holding a chaplet of flowers. It is made of 
cannon captured from the Turks, and weighs about 
seventy-eight tons. 

There is a winding stair case inside leading up to 
the head, which is large enough to contain six people, 
and from whence a splendid view can be had of the 
surrounding country. There are a great many fine 
statues to be seen in different parts of the city, and 
the style of architecture of all public buildings is com- 
mendable. The manufacture of stained glass for win- 
dows, and of bronze work, is carried on extensively 
here. ^ 

The drives about the city are very fine, and one is 
struck by the evidence of thrift on all sides. Here, as 
elsewhere, much of the menial work is performed by 
women and it is no unusual sight to see them, where 
buildings are in process of erection, carry the hod up 
steep ladders, mixing mortar, or sawing and splitting 



170 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

wood in front of dwellings and carrying it, by means 
of a pack on their backs, np two or three flights of 
stairs. 

Bavaria, you know, is noted for the excellent quality 

of its beer, and in Munich it reaches its highest state 

of perfection. From the vast quantity consumed here 

you might judge that it was cheap. Well, perhaps it 

is considering the size of the mugs, which are almost 

uniformly made of pottery, with pewter lids, and 

when filled contain one quart, which costs about seven 

cents of our money. It is used more freely than water 

as a beverage, and turn which ever way you will, beer 

gardens and drinking halls are sure to be met with. 

Our whole party, as is the custom of tourists when 

under orders, was driven to the Eoyal Court Brewery, 

which was erected in 1544. A local guide book says : 

" A visit to the Hoffbrauhaus is to be recommended to 
strangers on account of the characteristics of Munich 
life to be seen there, as well as of the excellent ' stoff ' 
which is here dispensed." Comment is unnecessary. 

Alluding briefly to statues, my attention was drawn 
to one, whilst driving in the square, of Count Rumford, 
a Massachusetts man named Thompson, I believe, who 
drifted to this country many years ago, laid out the 
celebrated English garden here, and made himself so 
generally useful as to be received in great favor as an 
adopted citizen of Bavaria. The obelisk is an imposing 
monument, one hundred feet high, of captured gun 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 171 

metal, erected to the memory of thirty thousand Ba- 
varians who perished in the Russian war. 

Of course a visit was made to the shops, and our 
respective allowance of baggage, visibly increased by 
the addition of bric-a-brac and the hundred and one 
things to be seen, coveted, and finally secured on a 
foreign tour. I know of some travelers who lie awake 
nights planning how to beat the custom house on their 
arrival at New York. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



VERONA. 



From Munich we traveled direct to Verona, through 
the Brenner Pass of the Alps. Fortunately, our cou- 
rier had secured us a car large enough to contain al- 
most our entire party, and as we are now just like a 
well regulated family, we had about the liveliest day 
of our journey. Ordinarily, six of us have occupied 
the same compartment to ourselves, and sometimes we 
have grown tired of each other's company and gone to 
sleep. Seventeen persons in close juxtaposition, in- 
spired by the grand mountain scenery in the Austrian 
Tyrol through which we passed, were not disposed to 
sleep, you may be assured. We were promised the 
gratification of seeing the Tyrolese in their fanciful 
costumes, but were doomed to disappointment, as all 
the costumes worn by the peasants, male and female, 
were less picturesque, if anything, than those worn by 
the lower order of society in any other land — but there 
was no discount on the scenery. The highest point in 
the Alps we reached was only a little over five thous- 
and feet, but the snow fields were in plain sight nearly 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 173 

all the time, and the relief from the heat of Bavaria to 
the invigorating air of these mountains, fresh from the 
snow caps that whiten many a rugged peak, was sim- 
ply delicious. A swift mountain torrent sweeps by us 
as the huge engine toiled upwards with its serpentine 
train, and the mist and rain occasionally obscured the 
vision, and once in a while the clouds would hang low 
down and become blended with their near kindred, the 
snow fields ; whilst at times they would shut out, like 
a drop curtain let down, our view of some neat bit of 
hillside landscape, where, perhaps, ages ago the trees 
had been felled, and a clearing made large enough for 
some bold mountaineer to erect his hut, and carry on 
a lilliputian farm, on which in narrow strips the yel- 
low grain was ripening. Occasionally we passed a vil- 
lage or town, of Sleepy Hollow proclivities, which 
seemed the favorite abode of superstition, and shrines 
to circumvent the devil were almost as numerous as 
the mile stones in Ireland. We passed through numer- 
ous tunnels, which had a demoralizing effect on the 
whist players, and occasionally a fine cataract would 
draw such superlatives from those addicted to the use 
of slang, as " most beautiful," " lovely," " isn't she a 
daisy," etc. 

We were to have no dinner this day, but sandwiches 
had been distributed at one of the stations, and if 
there had been a water tank aboard, or even a beer keg- 
filled with water, the party would not have suffered. 



174 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

You see they make no allowance in this country for 
the customs or habits of Americans. With us, water, 
in traveling, is a necessity as a beverage ; with Euro- 
peans it is only wanted at the end of the journey, for 
external use. Wine and beer are offered at every 
station, but we have often found it impossible to obtain 
a drink of water. Hence these tears. It was nine 
o'clock when the lights of Yerona appeared in the dis- 
tance, giving promise of something tangible to stay 
the cravings of an outraged and disappointed stomach. 

Yerona is walled in, and when we entered " through 
the gates into the city," we realized the peculiar sen- 
sation produced upon the mind by foreign manners 
and antiquated customs. Defining my own particular 
sensations, they were similar to my first experiences 
of Cork. The next morning I was up bright and early, 
and before breakfast took a stroll into the market 
place which is a large paved square with no cover save 
such as is improvised with canvas by the truck vendors. 
Fruit and melons were displayed in great abundance, 
at very reasonable prices. I have observed no melons 
in Italy that can compare with our Kansas melons in 
size. As a rule, the water melons weigh about ten 
pounds ; the rind is thin, and the meat a rich red. A 
foreigner must be so careful of his diet in this country 
that I have not ventured to sample their quality. 
However, I filled my pockets with luscious peaches 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 175 

and returned to the hotel with two huge bunches of 
dahlias for distribution among the ladies. 

After breakfast we were driven to the tomb of Ro- 
meo and Juliet, and afterwards to the house immortal- 
ized by Shakespeare, where the balcony scene between 
the lovers occurred. The building stands in a narrow 
street, flush with the pavement, is four stories high, 
with several projections called balconies, but, alas, the 
one upon Avhich the fair Juliet had revealed her charms 
to the impatient Romeo had disappeared. The natives, 
who have but little reverence for the romance, gazed 
upon us with eyes that fairly flashed their contempt 
for a lot of American idiots who stood enraptured be- 
neath the rays of a sun focused to a white heat, silently 
adoring the homely spot around which the immortal 
dramatist had woven a tale so pathetic, and so morally 
sensuous, that in all the bright gems of passion's do- 
main this one shines without a rival. We visited the 
tombs of the Scaliger family, who ruled Yerona more 
than a century, commencing with the year 1262. These 
tombs, which are in the city, entered through a unique 
iron gate, are surmounted by elaborate structures in 
Gothic style with equestrian statues in bronze, and 
other figures too numerous to mention. Close by is 
the church of St. Maria Antica, with a splendid deep- 
toned organ, upon which one of the fair ladies of our 
party executed " Home, Sweet Home," momentarily 
creating a feeling of sadness in the hearts of some to 



176 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

whom home had seemed for a good while as a dream 
of the past. 

We were shown some elegant panels in inlaid work, 
and exquisite pieces of wood carving executed by a 
former priest of this church, whom Napoleon carried 
back with him to France, where he remained for a 
period of ten years. 

We likewise visited the stately cathedral, built on 
the Gothic plan in the fourteenth century, and tramped 
around its cloisters where four hundred years ago the 
monks wandered in silent meditation and prayer. 

Perhaps the finest and most interesting object to be 
met with in Verona is the arena or Roman amphithea- 
ter, built by Trajan, and in the middle ages covered, 
like many of the antiquities of Rome, with earth and 
debris. It is oval, fifteen hundred and eighty-four feet 
in circumference, one hundred and six feet high, and 
can accommodate easily seventy-five thousand specta- 
tors. Unlike the Colosseum of Rome, it is in a state 
of good repair, and is utilized on various great occa- 
sions. 

Verona dates from 350, B. C, and was once the capi- 
tal of the Gothic emperors. In 1866 it became an 
Italian city, having belonged for seventy years prior 
thereto to Austria. Its population at the present time 
approximates seventy thousand. Lying so near the 
borders of Austria, it may be considered one of the 
main strongholds and outposts of Italy, hence it is 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 177 

well fortified. I have not enumerated all the attrac- 
tions of this, to us, initial city of Italy. It was im- 
possible to see everything in the brief time allotted us, 
and I do not care to spread upon paper what "mine 
eyes" do not behold. 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 



VENICE. 



Leaving Verona on the afternoon train, we sped 
rapidly along through a landscape not in the least 
picturesque, nor worthy, so far as I could see, of more 
than a passing glance. The fields in cultivation were 
of the quilt-patch order, separated by rows of olive 
trees or grape vines. The whole country seemed to be 
undergoing a fearful drouth, judged by the dry beds 
of the streams, the brown grass, and fired condition 
of the corn. The long horned, white or mouse colored 
oxen common to this region, with lolling tongues toiled 
along the dusty, dazzling highway with huge loads of 
hemp, whilst the women in the fields, mostly bare- 
headed, worked on unmindful of the fierce rays of old 
Sol. Then we struck a dead level country, and pretty 
soon were running along a narrow tongue of land with 
water on each side, and before we could realize it, we 
found ourselves at the end of the track where gondo- 
las were waiting to convey us a mile or two farther, to 
the hotel. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 179 

Everyone is familiar with the characteristics of this 
city built in the sea, as it were, on one hundred and 
seventeen islands, reached by means of one hundred 
and fifty canals which are spanned by no less than 
three hundred and seventy-eight arched bridges con- 
structed of stone. 

There is little that is strictly modern about Venice. 
One sees the evidences of prosperity more in the shops 
and factories and commercial enterprises than in the 
erection of new buildings. The fact is, Venice, with 
one hundred and thirty-five thousand people, seems 
to have about attained its growth, leastways I saw no 
new buildings under headway, which is the surest 
indication whether a city is advancing or not. 

On reaching Venice by rail, passengers are conveyed 
from the depot to the hotels by gondolas, correspond- 
ing to cabs or 'busses, and accommodating two, four, 
or as many as can crowd in, according to seating ca- 
pacity. With more than four passengers there are in- 
variably two rowers, one at the bow using a single oar 
on the left, the other at the stern using a single oar on 
the right. The oarsmen are called gondoliers and 
have been celebrated in song and story for ages. All 
of the passenger traffic of Venice is performed by 
them. A single gondolier, standing in the stern of 
his unique craft and plying only one oar, will convey 
four persons at as great a rate of speed as one horse 
would convey the same number of persons through the 



180 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

streets of Rome. Many of the gondolas are fitted up 
in considerable elegance, with cushioned seats and em- 
broidered canopies. The gondoliers, especially those 
catering to the bon ton traffic, are handsome fellows 
clad in white linen jacket and trousers, with a colored 
silk sash around the waist. At night they go bare- 
headed, and whether natural or acquired, strike an at- 
titude in rowing which is grace itself, or, as the Judge 
expressed it, a " superb illustration of the poetry of 
motion." 

Venice by moonlight is a vision of loveliness. I 
have read of the realms of enchantment and of Elys- 
ian fields ; I have gone into ecstasies over a picture 
painted by a masterhand, and been enraptured by the 
eloquence of one who reached above the stars for in- 
spiration, but I am prepared to say, and will maintain 
it too, that a ride by moonlight in a four-seated gon- 
dola, manned by a gondolier capable, at a moment's 
notice, of impersonating Achilles — him of the vulnera- 
ble heel — has no equivalent on this mundane sphere 
when attended by all the conditions and surroundings 
that favored a certain quartette of the Cook party, 
which, one evening when the moon (not the party) 
was full, strolled through the long corridors of the Vic- 
toria, across the paved court yard and through an im- 
mense hall, ending with a long flight of marble steps 
leading down into the waters of the canal and which 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 181 

served as the landing from which these four stepped 
into an open gondola in waiting. 

Soon they were gliding past scenes of revelry, where 
the clinking glasses revealed the sensual worship of 
Bacchus, past marts of trade where the closed doors 
and windows betokened a cessation of hostilities for 
the day, past barges leisurely returning from the busy 
haunts of traffic, from shadow and the gruff shouts of 
boatmen, dead walls and stench, into the bright moon- 
light — the enchanted scenes of the Rial to and the 
grand canal ; down past the winged lion of St. Mark, 
the gilded copper horses that surmount the facade of 
that old cathedral — brought as they were from Con- 
stantinople in 1204, carried as trophies of war to Paris 
in 1797. and returned hither in 1815 — past the palace 
where the infamous reigns of the doges added a vol- 
ume to the world's history, every page of which is 
stained with agonizing tears and the blood of the inno- 
cent, past the Bridge of Sighs, where hope, the anchor 
of the soul, deserted her votaries and the grim spectre 
of despair became enthroned. 

Thus # on and on we glide, past marble halls and 
summer gardens whence the seductive tones of music 
steal over the water, into the broad lagoon where the 
ships of every clime, with furled canvas, repose upon 
the bosom of the silent waters — no, not past these, for 
a huge barge, illuminated by numerous Chinese lan- 
terns, containing a serenading party out on a lark. 



182 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

with singers and band complete, sufficed to round out 
the picture and, save for a few finishing touches, render 
it ready to be hung in memory's dome, where the good 
and indifferent are stored until life's fitful dream is 
over. Here was also the silent schooner, with its 
white wings folded, and from the deck a dark line of 
spectators — call them listeners if you will — looked 
down on the scene below where the barge, like an oval 
bed of choice flowers, was brilliant in all colors. Sur- 
rounding it were the gondolas, conspicuous for the 
argus-eyed lamp in the bow, and the John L. Sullivan 
statue in the stern. 

The high tension notes of a magnificent tenor voice 
heard in the distance was the loadstone that attracted 
us hither, and when a female voice in the purest 
soprano followed, there was no discordant sound to 
mar the effect — only the lapping of the water on the 
sides of the gondola, or the soft plash of some gondo- 
lier's oar to keep his craft in position — then the whole 
party of serenaders joined in one harmonious chorus. 
When this had been thrice repeated, followed by the 
encores of the delighted cordon of tourists from many 
a land, the barge moved off followed by a perfect fleet 
of Venetian water craft. I shall always think the fine 
Italian hand of the man in this fine Italian moon was 
accountable for the spell cast upon the pleasure seekers 
on that memorable Saturday night. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



VENICE CONTINUED. 



And this was Venice by moonlight towards the close 
of the nineteenth century ! The time was when the 
gondolier was not simply an automaton, bnt belonged 
by birth-right to a guild that was held in high esteem. 
Instead of the gay music and singing of pleasure par- 
ties, they sang a dreary accompaniment to the splash 
of their oars. 

" How much better was this somewhat melancholy 
song of two gondoliers answering each other in the si- 
lence of the Grand Canal, than the so-called serenades 
with music, Bengal lights, etc., which were not at all 
Venetian. A mandolin and a guitar, or a flute and a 
harp, the song of Tasso, old instruments and an old 
song in a dark night, as well as by moonlight, produce 
in Venice more that feeling of sweet revery, of a secret 
wish you cannot explain to yourself, and of the dearest 
records of the past, than the airs of Boccaccio and the 
Cancan of Orphee aux Enfers."* That settles it. 



Rovere. 



184 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

University people have to thank the Venetians for 
the regatta, which became one of their fetes as early 
as the fourteenth century.* 

We had a little regatta of our own on Monday after- 
noon. Five gondolas, handsomely canopied, were en- 
gaged to take our party to the Armenian Monastery 
on the island of St. Lazzaro, distant about two miles 
from the city. The day was uncomfortably warm on 
the water, so that the four persons on our craft were 
eager to get out of the glare of the sun. The three 
occupants of another gondola seemed to be of the same 
mind, as they shot past us and took the lead. "We 
stimulated our craftsmen by the promise of a reward 
if they could overtake the other gondola. They did 
some tall rowing then, and so did the other fellows, 
who were working under the stimulus of the whip and 
spur of reward likewise, and as they carried but three 
of the party — and in a race every pound counts — they 



* Since the earliest times the Lido was the place where the 
people of Venice made the exercise to shoot at the target. 
Every wealthy man had to go there almost once a week and 
the others on holydays. A fine was imposed upon whom 
did not go there, and this exercise gave clever archers to the 
fleet. In 1406 a palace was built on the shore for one of the 
Signorl dl notte, who had to maintain order and reward the 
best. The government, in order to facilitate the passage, 
kept ready at St. Mark's a certain number of boats for thirty 
or forty rowers, so that those who had no other means to go 
to the Lido had also to row. This second exercise gave origin 
to wagers, and as the boats were first disposed in a horizontal 
line and after in a vertical (line, riga), it was called regatta. 
— A. D. Rovere. 



FROM NILE TO MLK. 185 

reached the goal at least a full length ahead. But on 
the return trip, under promise of an increased reward, 
our oarsmen bent every energy to the task, and the re- 
serve strength that now came into play and put us far 
in advance of any competitor, awakened my suspicions 
that the first one was a " pulled " race. 

The interest for us on the terra firma portion of 
Venice centered in and about the Square of St. Mark, 
a paved court whose arcaded sides were in length 
about five hundred and fifty feet, and in width two 
hundred and fifty feet at one end, narrowing to one 
hundred and eighty feet at the other. 

On three sides of this grand square are fine cafes, 
and numerous shops almost wholly devoted to the sale 
of Venetian glass wares and trinkets, bric-a-brac, jew- 
elry, paintings and photographs. In this respect, I 
am told, its equal can not be found on any spot on 
earth. 

Here in this square at two o'clock each day a vast 
number of pigeons are fed, in perpetuation of a custom 
commenced seven hundred years ago, when the pro- 
genitors of these pigeons were loosed on Palm Sunday 
from their imprisonment, and during the remainder 
of their days were the wards of the state, being fed for 
centuries, by an act of the senate, from the public 
crib. I rather admire the spirit that prompts private 
individuals to keep alive and foster, as the years and 
ages go by, a custom so simple and yet so humane. 



186 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The great Campanile, or bell tower, whose founda- 
tions were laid in 911, stands in the east end of the 
square, and affords the best outlook to be found in 
Venice. To the right and in the rear is the far famed 
Church of St. Mark. Between the church and the 
water side stand two columns of granite transported 
from Syria in the twelfth century. One of them is 
surmounted by a statue of St. George, the other by the 
bronze winged lion of St. Mark which, like the copper 
horses, fell into the clutches of Napoleon and made 
the Paris trip. 

St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice. It is claimed 
that in the year 828 the remains of the Evangelist 
were brought here by stealth from Alexandria, Egypt. ' 
It is tolerably well authenticated that St. Mark suffered 
martyrdom in that city by being dragged through the 
streets for two successive days, until death released 
him from persecution. Then they burned the flesh 
from his bones and left him, when loving hands gath- 
ered up the remains and interred them near the place 
where he had been accustomed to preach. 

Seven centuries and a half rolled by, when a certain 
Doge of Venice conceived the bold scheme of doing a 
stroke of business for his native city that would give 
it an ecclesiastical position and make him the spiritual, 
as well as political, ruler of it. Under pretext that 
the Saracen Caliph was pulling down the Coptic, or 
Christian churches of Alexandria in order to obtain 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 187 

material for the construction of a grand palace, two 
merchants of Venice, under orders from the Doge, 
bribed two Coptic priests to deliver into their hands 
the relics of St. Mark and conceal the theft from the 
knowledge of the Copts by the substitution in the sar- 
cophagus of other remains. The relics were packed 
in a case along with a lot of bacon. Now, a Moham- 
medan has a worse horror of pork than a Jew. The 
custom house officers threw up their hands in holy 
horror and allowed the case to pass on board a Vene- 
tian ship in the harbor, without so much as laying a 
finger upon it. In course of time it arrived at Venice, 
was received with great pomp, and laid away with im- 
posing ceremonies in a chapel built expressly for it in 
the Doge's palace. When the church of St. Mark was 
completed the remains were supposed to have been de- 
posited there in a tomb. The tomb, however, was dis- 
covered to be empty, and for eight centuries and a half 
the remains have been lost. 

St. Mark's has been almost destroyed by fire once 
or twice, but in the present building they point out a 
marble slab where St. Mark appeared in person to con- 
vince the faithful that, though they had suffered his 
bones to become hopelessly lost, he would still be loyal 
to them as their patron saint. 

Over the tomb prepared for him in the church of St. 
Mark is an altar and in rear of it, four beautiful ala- 



188 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

baster spiral columns which, they claim, stood in Solo- 
mon's temple. 

The treasury of relics is said to contain articles of 
fabulous value. I did not see them. My attention 
was taken up with a granite rock brought from Jeru- 
salem, on which our Savior stood to preach to the mul- 
titude. This was in the baptistry, and here the guide 
pointed out a marble slab containing dark blotches, 
for this was the stone upon which the honored head 
of John the Baptist fell, by the headsman's axe. 

I take the liberty of digressing here briefly, in order 
to enter a solemn protest against all the vile mockery 
of things sacred that one hears from the lips of the 
brazen-tongued guides, whose profession it is to amaze 
more than instruct. They consider it a fine stroke of 
business to magnify all the absurd tales by which the 
more susceptible votaries of saint worship are deluded. 
When repeated in my hearing, the refrain of the bal- 
let singer in the Royal Aquarium always suggests it- 
self — " If you believe that, you can believe anything." 

The Doge's Palace, in view of all the remarkable 
events that have transpired within its walls, is perhaps 
one of the most interesting places on earth to the tour- 
ist. It is only a picture gallery and museum, now, 
but the various chambers still retain their original 
designations, and are surrounded by that strange at- 
mosphere of mystery and horror that clings to every 
object associated with the shedding of innocent blood. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 189 

The grand council chamber, as its name implies, was 
the assembly room of the soverign power of the state, 
composed of the nobility over a certain age and a pre- 
scribed number of elective members. In this room, 
above the throne, or speaker's stand, is the masterpiece 
of Tintorello, " The Glory of Paradise." containing 
eight hundred characters, a work completed in his 
seventieth year. He likewise painted the portraits of 
a number of the doges, each of which has its allotted 
space on the wall. One of these was the portrait of a 
doge so infamous that he was slain by one of the Coun- 
cil of Ten. In the year 1366 this portrait was taken 
from the wall, and the vacant panel is painted out to 
verify history. The artist Tintorello has left in Venice 
a multitude of his works, which attest not only the 
genius of the man, but the value set upon them by 
his contemporaries. He was born here in 1519 and 
died in 1594. 

Another chamber into which we passed was the 
Hall of the Council of Ten, occupied by the tribunal 
selected by the grand council, who had jurisdiction in 
criminal cases of magnitude. The prisoner brought 
to the bar of this court was practically defenseless, 
although a member of the court would be allowed to 
act as counsel for him. The prosecution was conducted 
by the attorney general or judge advocate. This court 
strongly suggests the model after which military 
courts martial have taken pattern. This system, how- 



190 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

ever, goes farther back than Venetian paternity; it 
originated with the Greeks. 

The Hall of Ministerial Council was occupied by 
sixteen officers of the state, selected by the grand 
council to perform the duties corresponding to the 
offices of secretary of war and secretary of the navy 
with us. Above the throne in this room is a grand 
picture by Paul Veronese, " The Savior in Glory." 
This artist was born in Verona in 1528, and died here 
in 1588. He has few superiors amongst the old masters. 

The Hall of the Senate was devoted to the sittings 
of a legislative body, also elected by the all powerful 
council. Tintorello was employed to decorate this 
chamber, the ceiling fresco being one of his best works 
in this branch of the art of painting. 

Perhaps the most interesting chamber is that one 
where the three State Inquisitors worked silently, but 
as cruelly and as effectively as three human spiders 
could work. There was little hope for a man accused 
of crime when once he mounted the golden stair, as 
that elevated passage way is here called, and which 
doubtless gave rise to the song, ki Climbing the Golden 
Stair." 

The hall of the Bussola was an ante-room for the 
police, but its most attractive feature is not the fine 
ceiling piece, by Paul Veronese, but a small aperture 
in the wall, once the lion's mouth through which 
passed the written accusations, generally anonymous, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 191 

against people, that were usually prompted by jeal- 
ousy or malice, rarely through patriotic motives for 
the public good. Satan never devised a witch's hell- 
broth more potent for evil. 

A narrow, dismal passage leads from the hall of the 
Council of Ten to the prison cells of Pozzi, and like- 
wise to the Bridge of Sighs. Byron remained in one 
of these cells, where not a ray of light penetrates, nor 
a breath of fresh air is inhaled, for a space of twelve 
hours, that he might have a realizing sense of the mis- 
ery and prolonged despair of a man immured here for 
life. To the Bridge of Sighs he has given a reputation 
not borne out by the facts of history. We felt our way 
through the damp, gloomy passage — sometimes able to 
see the oaken planks of the prison from the feeble rays 
of a taper, carried by the guide; at other times, espec- 
ially if bringing up the rear, enshrouded in total dark- 
ness. 

We stood on the Bridge of Sighs and were pointed 
to the spot where political executions had taken place 
and the bodies had been dropped through a trap door 
to the gondolier in waiting beneath. 

There was much of Venice that the shortness of our 
stay prevented us from seeing. Eight days, at least, 
should be devoted to the undertaking, if one has the 
time and is sufficiently interested in the medieval cu- 
riosities of the unrivaled Queen of the Adriatic. 



CHAPTEE XXV. 



FLORENCE. 



From Venice we traveled southwest through the 
picturesque Appenines to the ancient city of Florence. 
Here in the twelfth century originated a quarrel be- 
tween the pope and the emperor of Germany for the 
possession of the city, which eventually led to inter- 
necine strife between the supporters of the former, 
called Guelphs, and the adherents of the latter, dis- 
tinguished as Ghibellines, which ran through a period 
of one hundred and forty-three years. Afterward, 
near the beginning of the fifteenth century, the 
famous, or rather infamous, Medici family came into 
power, and swayed the destinies of the Florentines 
for many years. Florence owes much of its present 
magnificence and marvelous art collections to two 
members of this family who, like Louis of Bavaria, 
courted popularity by catering to the aesthetic craze 
of their day. 

The city lies on both sides of the river Arno, the 
two sides being connected by four stone and two sus- 
pension bridges. One of these bridges built in 1345. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 193 

composed of three solid arches, is unique in its way. 
It is covered with jeweler and goldsmith shops, like 
the Bialto at Venice, whilst above it is a picture gal- 
lery connecting the two palaces of Uffizi and Pitti. 
This long gallery contains no less than one thousand 
six hundred paintings, mostly portraits, being six 
hundred more than are contained in the national gal- 
lery of London. 

One peculiarity of Florence lies in its streets, paved 
with large flag stones, laid with as much precision, 
and kept as scrupulously clean as the stone sidewalks 
in our large American cities. The population is about 
one hundred and sixty thousand, and since it ceased 
to be the capital of Italy in 1870, has been going into 
a gradual decline, but it is a grand old place for the 
tourist to revel, and in winter, I am told, offers an 
asylum for invalids requiring a mild and invigorating 
climate second to no place in southern Europe. 

This is headquarters for mosaics, and if one has a 
penchant for this style of art he can satisfy the inner- 
most cravings of his heart — provided they are com- 
mensurate with the balance left on his letter of credit. 
I saw one mosaic table that sold for one hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. 

At Venice the party invested all its small change in 
glass trinkets, the manufacture of which has been a 
specialty there for six hundred years — one establish- 
ment, still in operation, having been founded in the 

13 



194 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

thirteenth century ; but at Florence the exquisite pro- 
duction of mosaics called out the reserved funds — a 
single specimen, eight inches by twelve, costing as 
much as sixty francs. Fine jewelry here is cheap, and 
of such ornate design as to create a perfect hunger for 
it. 

The drives are fine, and one in particular — the Cas- 
ine — seems to possess all the attributes which ease, 
luxury, and a taste for the beautiful and picturesque 
could demand. There was the broad, whitish gray 
roadway, smooth and level as a billiard table, lined 
with shade trees, just sufficiently arched to leave a nar- 
row strip of the blue Italian sky for a key-stone. 
There were charming villas, where the architect and 
landscape gardener had blended utility with the orna- 
mental in nature. There were patches of woodland, 
with dim converging aisles, fountains and statuary, 
and a graceful curve in the road revealed the rushing 
waters of the Arno, parallel with which the road now 
ran crossing one of its historic bridges, then up the 
heights in a zigzag course, where terrace after terrace 
led to the Piazzo Michael Angelo, a handsome esplan- 
ade, with its grand monument and superb copies of 
the great sculptor's matchless works. Here one ob- 
tains a grand panoramic view of the city lying at his 
feet, with the blue range of the Appenines in the dis- 
tance, the winding river, the vine clad hills, the lowly 
cottage of the peasant, and the embowered villas of 



FROM NILE TO NILE. L95 

the titled and wealthy. My memory enables me to re- 
call no fairer scene. From here you view the half 
destroyed walls of the citj'. 

The dome of the great cathedral looms up in the 
foreground, dwarfing all objects near it. save the Cam- 
panile, or Giotto's bell tower, whose variegated marble 
casements, further enhanced in beauty by numerous 
bas relief and statuettes, rises squarely to the dizzy 
height of two hundred and ninety-two feet. Not far 
away stands the ancient church of St. Croce, with its 
modern facade erected by the late Pope Pius IX., in 
1857. Within the walls of this edifice rest the bones 
of Michael Angelo — patriot and soldier, sculptor, arch- 
itect and painter ; the world's history records not his 
equal. Here, likewise, sleeps Galileo — the brightest 
star in all the galaxy of science, and Machiavelli, the 
diabolical, who made Italy, in medieval days, a nation 
of treachery and deceit. Here are stored rare treas- 
ures of art ; and in the open square, which the church 
confronts, is a colossal statue of Dante. 

Farther along is the Uffizi art gallery, consisting 
of thirty large halls, probably the finest art collection 
in the world. The works of the old masters are nu- 
merous. Next we cross the Yecchio bridge, before 
alluded to, and enter the Pitti palace — once the resi- 
dence of the Medici — and still occupied as such by 
royalty. In this palace, erected in 1840, are some five 
hundred superb paintings of priceless value. There 



196 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

are many fine marble statues, and a marble bust of 
Napoleon I., said to be the best in existence. There 
is one cabinet of gems, containing four hundred pieces 
of workmanship, too numerous to mention here, but I 
will give a few samples, such as a jasper cup, with a 
small statue of a warrior, in gold, ornamented with 
diamonds ; two vases in sardonyx ; a head in turquoise 
the eyes of which are two diamonds ; A large vase in 
red jasper ; a triangular cup in emerald, and a lapis- 
lazuli vase ornamented with pearls. One will see 
here the finest tables in the world, round and oval, 
with vases and flowers in mosaic, tables in Persian 
lapis lazuli, tables in Egyptian porphry, with sea shells 
and pearls inlaid or incrusted with amethysts and jas- 
per, tables of alabaster, and, in fact, tables so numer- 
ous, so costly and of such exquisite workmanship as to 
make one wish that in poverty stricken Italy all this 
stuff could be " sold for much and given to the poor." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



NAPLES. 



It is considered extremely hazardous in midsummer 
for tourists to visit Naples — hence, some members of 
our party branched off and went to Austria, rejoining 
us subsequently at Pisa, but the main body, regardless 
of the rumors of cholera, continued on from Florence, 
stopping over night at Rome. As we were to return 
to the latter place and remain five days, we thought it 
scarcely worth while to take in any of the sights of 
the Eternal City upon this occasion. 

However, as there was a fine moon, and we had been 
advised to view the Colosseum by moonlight, the same 
quartette who had been lured by Luna's rays out into 
the Lagoon at Venice, ventured forth about ten o'clock 
behind a pair of good steppers, braving the alleged 
noxious night air that " used formerly" to find its way 
into the city from the miasmatic Campagna, and soon 
the glorious sight of this " noble wreck in ruinous per- 
fection " loomed up before us. As we entered its dark 
portals, in front of which a feeble gas jet only served 
to intensify the gloom, the moon opportunely, and as 



198 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

though timed for the occasion, peeped over the wall, 
revealing to us the vast amphitheater where, ages ago, 
one hundred thousand people had turned their thumbs 
up or thumbs down in token of approval or disap- 
proval, in some gladiatorial feats, where the vanquished 
stood awaiting the fate that, by this strange procedure, 
would assign them to instant death or give them one 
more chance for their lives. 

Here where we stood, in the heart of old Rome, was 
the arena of arenas, where, in one day, one hundred 
lions fell by the supple arm of a gladiatorial monarch, 
and one hundred ostriches gave their last kick through 
the same agency. Beneath us five thousand wild ani- 
mals had been confined in one day to be let loose in 
this arena, according to programme, for the amusement 
of the spectators. They were pitted against each other 
to fight to the death. Sometimes it was a wild beast 
and a Christian. At other times captives, who were 
made slaves, fought each other, and the victor, though 
a murderer, became a freeman. It is related that 
one individual of this class, through his expertness in 
all gladiatorial feats, rose to such renown that even 
nobles and royalty itself were his pupils. 

On this spot the sanded floors of the arena were at 
times removed and water to the depth of ten feet was 
let in. The populace of Rome could then witness the 
naval engagements gotten up for their entertainment 
with as much zest as probably they had manifested a 



FROM XTLE TO NILE. 199 

day or two previously when the Numidian lions had 
licked their chops over the mangled remains of a mar- 
tyred Christian. For five hundred years Rome kept 
up this kind of sport. The same moon that was gloiy- 
fying these dismantled terraces and broken Avails with 
a sheen as illusory as the opium devotee's dream, 
looked down on the Colosseum eighteen hundred years 
ago, and beheld it in all the beauty and symmetry of 
youth. In its old age, decayed, broken and useless, it 
hides as with a garment these defects, only too glaring 
in the broad light of day. 

The next morning we boarded the train for Naples, 
running parallel for a long distance with the Appian 
way, a stone pike laid out by Appius Claudius 312 B. C. 
Many of the towns along this route are perched upon 
abrupt elevations, presumably for defense, and show 
evidence of considerable antiquity. One of the most 
striking objects that meets the eye is the Benedictine 
Monastery of Monte Cassino, an educational institution 
of much renown in Italy for the preparation of such 
only as design to enter the priesthood. The monks, 
some thirty in number, have charge of one of the most 
precious libraries in the world. 

Farther along we enter the Campania, one of the 
richest agricultural districts in southern Europe. I 
am told that it is no uncommon thing to raise two 
crops of grain and one of grass each year from the 
same ground. Capua, through which we pass, is a 



200 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

fortified town about as large as Emporia. It was here 
that Garibaldi defeated King Francis II. in 1860. 
Long before reaching Naples Mt. Vesuvius is discerned, 
emitting from its crater a moderate column of smoke, 
which at night, in plain view from our window, 
changes to a lurid glare, which, to be appreciated must 
be seen, for no artist's brush or tourist's pencil can 
do it justice. 

At three o'clock on Sunday morning we were aroused 
from our slumber to eat a hurried breakfast, and then 
take carriages that would convey us up the rugged 
sides of Vesuvius as far as the station of the inclined 
railway, which reaches nearly to the crater. All of 
our party responded to the summons except a young- 
lady, the favorite of the party, who sacrificed the fond- 
est desire of her heart to a sense of conviction in 
keeping both the letter and the spirit of the divine 
injunction, " Remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
holy.'" I have no recollection of any instance where, 
in real life, a sublimer sacrifice has been made. The 
ascent of Vesuvius was one of the main attractions 
that had tempted her abroad. For this she had risen 
from a sick bed at Florence, determined to let no fore- 
seen obstacle hinder a life's anticipations. The party, 
one and all, endeavored by jeers, argument and coax- 
ing, to induce her to view the matter in a different 
light, but be it said to her undying credit, she contin- 
ued true to her convictions. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 201 

The distance from our hotel to the crater of the vol- 
cano was about eighteen miles. The lazaroni of Naples 
were astir, even at this early hour, thus giving color 
to the suspicion that they prowled around o ? nights, 
and slept, like owls and bats, in broad daylight. Our 
caravan threaded narrow and crooked streets, where 
the goats and vermin infested offspring of these same 
lazaroni crowded the sidewalks or quite obstructed the 
lava paved roadwaj T . 

At intervals we passed milkmen on their morning 
rounds, pursuing the novel, but honest, custom of de- 
livering the lacteal fluid in its purity, fresh and warm 
from the cow, drawn from the udder in the presence of 
unkempt patrons. Such procedure in America would 
drive the average milkman to the verge of bankruptcy. 
In these purlieus, through which we were passing, of 
a city containing a half million of souls, all the requi- 
sites necessary for a cholera epidemic were approaching 
ripeness. 

Mark Twain commences a chapter with: " See 
Naples and die!'' Well, I have seen Naples, and the 
melon-cholic wonder to me is that I survived the ter- 
rible gripings that, for forty-eight hours, made life a 
burden and the beauty of Naples a delusion and a 
snare. If the attraction had been anything but 
Vesuvius, I should have kept to my bed and let the 
cholera morbus wear itself and me out together ; 
but the nerve, pluck, or resolution — call it by what 



202 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

term you will — that has never, sick or well, deserted 
me in an emergency, triumphed again and made it pos- 
sible for me to be conveyed up the steep and winding 
road to the station, hence up that dizzy, flesh-creeping 
incline, where the motive power of a stationary engine 
elevates the car at an angle only attained by an ascend- 
ing balloon. From here on came the tug of war. 
Bunyan must have had this portion of the ascent in 
view when he wrote the Pilgrim's Progress, and Dante, 
I imagine, caught the inspiration here that led on to 
the production of that literary nightmare — the Inferno. 
Talk about the abomination of desolation ; here it is 
revealed in all its ugly nakedness. Look below and 
shudder at the thought of committing one's life to the 
frail and frayed cable that served its purpose in bring- 
ing us hither over the glacier-like beds of lava ; con- 
tinue the ascent on foot where human ingenuity to aid 
one's progress consists of a grip at the end of a rope 
secured to a guide — terms, five francs, and declined, 
somewhat reluctantly, with thanks. Then we buckle 
down to work. Up and up, over hot ashes, and past 
crevices emitting the stifling, sulphurous breath of 
hell ; still higher, in hot ashes to the ankle, the fumes 
growing worse with each advancing step ; a supreme 
effort now, requiring nerve and muscle, and plenty of 
it, and lo ! we stand on the ragged edge of nature's 
safety valve, where the awful sublimity of the inde- 
scribable scene presented dwarfs all previous sensations 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 203 

of an awe-inspiring character. I have crouched on 
the steamer's deck when the tempest tossed the mad 
waves higher than its mast. I have been spellbound 
beneath the thunder of Niagara's flood ; and long years 
ago made one of many who, with blanched faces, with- 
stood the battle's shock ; but in the presence of the 
Unseen Force, whose pulsations no man could calcu- 
late, all these paled as the stars when the sun appears. 
Perhaps it was the unearthly noise of earth's sub- 
terranean gases escaping that appalled me. Perhaps 
it was the great patches of molten lava that were 
hurled in the air one hundred feet or more, and then 
fell like a quivering mass of coagulated blood into the 
basin of the volcano. Perhaps it was an undeniable 
resemblance it bore to a preconceived idea of the in- 
fernal regions. This is Vesuvius, which in the year 
79 for twelve hours rained hot ashes on the city of 
Pompeii, buiying it to the depth of twenty feet, and 
causing the death of two thousand of the citizens. 
Whilst this was going on. streams of lava were pour- 
ing down the mountain side toward Naples, and bury- 
ing to the depth of ninety feet the ancient city of 
Hercules, called Herculaneum. Since then the town 
of Eesina, a populous suburb of Naples, has sprung 
up on that spot, and in consequence of the valuable 
buildings that have been erected from time to time, 
but little effort has been made to excavate the last 
city. 



204 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

With Pompeii it is different, and the excavations 
here have revealed nearly all of the old town. We 
spent a whole afternoon wandering through the de- 
serted streets, which eighteen hundred and eight years 
ago resounded to the babel of voices and the traffic of a 
busy city, but which in the twinkling of an eye, as it 
were, sunk into the quietude and peace of the grave. 
The excavations and clearing away of the debris have 
been thorough. There is no groping in the dark, nor 
stumbling over heaps of ashes and lava. Pompeii 
stands out in as bold relief as any of the ruins of Italy. 
Its streets are all paved, and the ruts worn by wheeled 
vehicles more than eighteen hundred years ago have 
undergone no change. The lower stories of the build- 
ings, composed of concrete or brick, are all that re- 
main, but these are sufficient to give one an idea of the 
grand temples, theaters and palaces which here 
abounded. In the museum at Naples are eighteen 
thousand bronze objects discovered in Pompeii, to say 
nothing of the marble sculpture and a vast array of 
mural paintings, and other objects of great interest. 

This museum likewise contains many curiosities exca- 
vated from Herculaneum. At Pompeii there is a small 
museum, the most striking objects being casts of bodies 
discovered in excavating. The exact position in which 
the originals were found is faithfully portrayed. 

Naples is the busiest city I found in all Italy. The 
improvements that are taking place are simply won- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 205 

derful. Block after block of fine business houses are 
in process of erection, while whole rows of old build- 
ings are being torn down to give place to new ones. 
The streets are a constant jam with drays and carts 
hauling away debris or conveying building material 
where required. Of such proportions is the boom that 
gangs of laborers work by electric light all through 
the night. 

Overlooking the city and commanding the harbor is 
the fortress of St. Elmo, now a military prison. It 
stands on an elevation of more than eight hundred 
feet, and is grander in perspective than Edinburgh 
Castle. 

Viewed from Vesuvius, Naples, lying in a crescent 
around the bay of the same name, and covering the 
hills that slope almost to the water's edge, certainly 
presents a charming sight ; but viewed from the deck 
of a steamer is more worthy the exclamation of the 
enthusiast, " See Naples and die ! " 

In plain view from Vesuvius, looking down the bay, 
is the island of Ischia, where, some three or four 
years ago, an earthquake swallowed up over four 
thousand of its inhabitants. There are many places 
of interest to the tourist in and around Naples, but 
with the mercury at 100° and cholera in the air one 
breathes, I confined my ramblings to only a few of the 
most prominent objects. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



ROME. 



I am at a loss to know how I shall do justice to Rome 
in a few brief chapters, where a mine so inexhaus- 
tible in historical lore lies open before me. The libra- 
ries of the world are replete with volumes written con- 
temporaneously by such grand old historians as Plu- 
tarch, Tacitus, Dionysius, Pliny, and others, and 
modern writers, with the compilation of twenty-six 
centuries in which Rome has had an existence, have 
found a fruitful field within the walls of the Eternal 
City for the exercise of literary labor. 

Ancient Rome and modern Rome are as distinct in 
characteristics as the Pompeii of to-day and — Naples. 
Ancient Rome dates from 753 B. C. It was six 
times partially destroyed by fire, and from time to time 
was torn by internal dissensions, and subjected to cap- 
ture and pillage by alien forces. Occupying the proud 
position of mistress of the world at one period, it 
eventually became shorn of its glory, and sank so low 
in political importance, as well as in population, as to 
merit only pity for its deplorable condition and com- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 207 

miseration for the struggling seven thousand inhabi- 
tants to which it had been reduced. 

The fires, of course, destroyed many of its temples, 
palaces, and works of art. The iconoclastic hordes 
from the north that swept down upon the Empire re- 
spected nothing of a civilization higher than their 
own. 

Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and, by the 
way, a Briton, in A. D. 330, set up a new capitol in 
Byzantium, now called Constantinople, and embel- 
lished it with monuments and works of art taken from 
Rome. Her own citizens helped on the work of de- 
struction by the pulling down and removal of bronzes 
and marbles, ofttimes converting the latter into lime for 
purposes of utility. It is questionable if anything of 
archaeological value would have survived the dark and 
medieval ages, except the " stones of Rome," had it 
not been for the concealment afforded through the 
operations of natural laws. The debris of fallen build- 
ings, the wash from the rain shed, the accumulation 
of garbage through many centuries, and the deposits 
left by the Tiber's overflow, buried Rome to the depth 
of thirty feet. Recent excavations are attended with 
grand results, and the spectacle revealed, while not so 
imposing as at Pompeii, is of the same character. 

Modern Rome is built partly over the ruins of an- 
cient Rome, but extends farther north into the valley 
of the Campus Martius, beyond the limits of the old 



208 FROM NILE TO NILE.. 

city. It dates from the seventeenth century, and the 
older portion of it is a strange conglomeration of 
churches (there are only three hundred churches in 
Rome) palaces, open squares and narrow streets, foun- 
tains, obelisks, ruins and dirt. The newer portion, I 
fancy, owes its existence to the advent of the railway 
and the severance of church and state. The streets 
here are wide and straight ; the buildings first-class, 
and the air as pure, say, as in our own national capi- 
tal. The building boom is in full force, and hither 
laborers flock from all parts of the kingdom to find 
employment at such starvation wages as would pro- 
duce anarchy in America in less than no time. 

I have observed these hewers of wood and drawers 
of water at their daily toil in the broiling sun, exer- 
cising more muscle and expending more energy than 
laborers under a free government will contribute for 
thrice the remuneration they receive. I have seen 
them at their "nooning," and at sundown when the 
long midsummer day's labors had ceased, munching a 
piece of black bread and an onion. Meat would have 
been too rich for their blood, considering the state of 
their exchequer. Again, I have noticed them under 
the silent stars, stretched by the score on mother earth 
or the steps and porticoes of churches and public 
buildings, seeking that rest and forgetfulness which 
honest toil vouchsafes to all her subjects. Under these 
conditions, where the laws of hygiene are so wofully 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 209 

disregarded, there is little wonder that Borne labors 
under the opprobium of being "a sickly hole." The 
experiment carried to excess in our own matchless 
state would give it a reputation as unsavory as attaches 
to the regions of the Campagna. 

We were exceedingly fortunate in having pro- 
vided for our instruction and entertainment the ser- 
vices of Professor S. Russell Forbes, the eminent 
archaeological and historical lecturer on Roman anti- 
quities, who for three successive days conducted us 
through the labyrinth of curiosities in which the Im- 
perial City abounds, explaining their significance and 
historical importance. Professor Forbes is of English 
birth, and has made the antiquities of Rome a life 
study ; a thorough gentleman and a ripe scholar, with 
a supreme passion for his calling, he has aided the 
authorities in their Herculean task of unearthing an- 
cient Rome, by bringing to bear his superior knowledge 
gleaned from the writings of the ancients, determining 
locations and historical land marks, often before a 
basketful of earth was removed. 

The picture is presented of the audience of nineteen 
or twenty American ladies and gentlemen, with sun 
shades spread, grouped around the lecturer, in the 
presence of the remnant of a wall built by Romulus 
two thousand six hundred and forty years ago. If we 
follow the demarcation of the wall in its extension 
around the Palatine hill, which it encloses, we need look 



210 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

no farther for the town site of original Rome. Near 
this spot was the Porta Carmenta, through which 
the Romans rushed bearing captive six hundred 
and eighty-three presumably fair Sabine women. 
Romulus had just enclosed his city and settled down 
to enjoy life with his fellow freebooters ; but his " stag 
parties " grew monotonous and he felt kind of lone- 
some, for 

" There was a lack of woman's nursing ; 
There was dearth of woman's tears." 

That's what was the matter with Romulus, else why 
so pensive ? From his chamber window he could see 
over into the camp of the Sabines, and, though the 
grapes hung high, he resolved to sample their qual- 
ity. I have known young fellows in a similar condi- 
tion, as to bachelorhood ; take a claim, erect a hum- 
ble mansion thereon, and settle down to the enjoyment 
of Arcadian solitude, with the delusion that they were 
having a good time, with no ladies about. I have 
passed the same ranches months later, and was im- 
pressed by the surface indications that another " Rape 
of the Sabines " had been fully consummated. Such 
is life in the far west. 

From contemplating the wall of Romulus and the 
gate which admitted all this stolen sweetness, we curb 
the imagination and come down to plain, matter-of- 
fact historical objects and reminiscences. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 211 

Palatine, in plain English, signifies " possessing royal 
privileges ;" and so in this quarter of Rome, which, at 
its zenith, encompassed seven hills, all the emperors, 
commencing with Augustus Caesar, erected palaces, the 
ruins of which are fully exposed. We were shoAvn 
some floors of mosaic, and Avails richly frescoed, in a 
remarkable state of preservation ; balustrades, leaden 
water pipes, and the various chambers used by royalty. 
Connected with each dining room was a closet called 
the vometarium — an essential in every well-regulated 
house in the days when gluttony was considered an at- 
tribute of virtue. To this novel appendage, when ap- 
petite was fully satiated, the Roman noble retired and 
quickly proceeded to bring on a premature attack of 
sea sickness, which lasted but a moment, when he re- 
turned to the table as serene as a bishop, and resumed 
the stuffing process. Such buzzard like habits, if per- 
sisted in, would enfeeble any race, and render it an 
easy prey to nations whose abstemiousness from luxu- 
rious habits incited to vigilance and aggressiveness. 

The word " basilica " is one often heard in Rome, 
and as it is as full of meaning as an egg is of meat, I 
will describe it in Professor Forbes' own words : " The 
Basilica was the hall of justice, and consisted of a tri- 
bunal, nave and aisles. Its form was oblong and in 
the middle was an open space which we call the nave. 
On each side of this were rows of pillars which formed 
the aisles. The end of the nave was curved and was 



212 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

called the tribunal, from causes or complaints being 
heard there. A rail separating the tribunal from the 
body of the hall was called cancelli, because it was of 
open work. Not far from the entrance was a round 
stone in the pavement on which the prisoner stood to 
be tried. Between the judges seat on the tribunal and 
the rails stood the altar of Apollo. These halls were 
likewise used by business men as places of exchange. 
Being the largest halls the Romans had the form of 
them was copied by the early Christians for their 
churches. The judge's seat gave place to the bishop's 
throne ; the altar of Apollo to the communion table ; 
the cancelli to the chancel, and the foundation in the 
court in front to the holy water basins, and so the 
name was handed down and given to Christian 
churches, though there is not a church in Rome but 
was once a pagan basilica, or hall of justice. * Many 
of the so-called basilicas are not true basilicas, for 
they have introduced the transept to give them the 
form of a cross." 

This I have observed is true of St. Peter's and in 
fact all the great cathedrals of Europe. The basilica 
of the Palatine hills occupies the same spot of a for- 
mer one, where Nero sat in judgment when Paul took 
his appeal unto Csesar. 

Before ascending the flight of stairs in Caligula's 
palace, leading to a garden that was once the reservoir 
containing the water supply of the Palatine, we were 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 213 

pointed out the vestibule where Caligula the tyrant 
was assassinated. 

Judging from the extensive ruins of no less than 
nine public bath houses, one would conclude that the 
pagan Romans esteemed cleanliness in the same ratio 
as the Christian Romans regard Godliness. All baths 
of modern days pale into insignificance when compared 
with the extent, grandeur, and convenience of these 
old Roman baths. Take, for instance, the one called 
the Baths of Caracalla, which we inspected. They 
were begun by the Emperor Caracalla, in the year 212. 
The baths proper were one thousand seven hundred 
and twenty feet long by three hundred and seventy- 
five feet wide, surrounded by pleasure gardens and em- 
bellished handsomely. One thousand six hundred 
people could be accommodated at one time with hot or 
cold baths. An immense collection of superb works 
of art was discovered in these baths when the excava- 
tions were made, which we had the pleasure of seeing 
subsequently in the Vatican Museum. 

Skipping over the balance of this day's sight seeing, 
we commenced our second day's rambles with an in- 
spection of the old Roman forum. The word forum as 
applied to Roman antiquities signifies an open market 
place, and there are several of these in the city; but when 
Rome occupied only the Palatine and Capitoline hills, 
with the intervening territory, she could boast of but 
this one forum. It was surrounded by temples and 



214 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

public buildings. Its dimensions were seven hundred 
and eighty feet long by one hundred and sixty-five, 
widening to four hundred and twenty feet. 

Here were enacted some of the most stirring events 
in the lives of the early Komans. Here stood the 
temple of Vesta, the temple of Janus, the temple of 
Saturn, the temple tomb of Julius Csesar, the Basilica 
Julia, the Rostra Julia, the senate chamber, and many 
other notable buildings of which space forbids mention. 
The temple of Yesta was globular in form, to repre- 
sent the earth, and contained the palladium and holy 
fire. The vestal virgins were the custodians. They 
were bound to their duties for a term of thirty years. 
If one became recreant to her trust and broke her vow 
she was doomed to that " stuffy " death of being bur- 
ried alive. Plutarch says " they were ten years in 
being instructed in their duties, ten years they prac- 
tised them, and ten years they passed in instructing 
others." It is only a surmise on my part, but " taking 
the veil," as practised in the Catholic denomination, 
bears traces of pagan ancestry in as marked a degree 
as the basilica form of arrangement in their cathe- 
drals. 

The temple of Janus I discovered was not the grand 
and lofty edifice conceived by me in my school- 
days. I have a clear recollection of a passage in my 
old dog-eared Parley's history alluding to a treaty of 
peace, "that the doors of the temple of Janus had not 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 215 

been closed for five hundred years," and again, allud- 
ing to a declaration of war, " the doors of the temple 
of Janus were again flung wide open." The temple, 
or more properly speaking, the shrine of Janus, as 
represented to us was no larger than one of Daisy's 
upright water carts. It had two doors, facing east 
and west, that remained closed in time of peace and 
open while the Roman legions were at war. It con- 
tained the bronze figure of the two-faced god, Janus ; 
hence our significant term, " Janus-faced." 

The temple of Saturn was the treasury building — 
all than remains of it are seven handsome Ionic col- 
umns. On the steps of this temple it was the custom 
to administer an " affidavy " to the generals, setting 
forth that the spoils of war taken by them had been 
properly accounted for. I know some generals who 
would have been badly left if they had been subjected 
to the same ordeal on the treasury steps at Washing- 
ton. 

The temple tomb of Julius Caesar stood on the spot 
where his body was reduced to ashes in the Forum. 
The Basilica Julia was built by Julius Caesar and 
named for his daughter, of whom he must have been 
excessively proud. This was the great court of appeal 
at that time, and here Caesar administered law and 
justice. There was another tribunal where Brutus sat 
in the judicial chair. 



216 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

There were two rostras in this Forum where the 
people were harangued. Caasar, not liking the old 
one, erected another and called this the Rostra Julia. 
Here from this pulpit, as Shakespeare calls it, he loved 
to address the populace and receive their plaudits. 

The Senate House facing the Forum is not the place 
where Caesar was assassinated ; this chamber, when 
the foul deed was committed, was undergoing repairs, 
and Pompey had placed at the disposal of the senate 
an elegant hall adjacent to his theatre. Here the con- 
spirators gathered around Caesar as he entered it, and, 
at a given signal, rushed upon him with drawn daggers, 
inflicting on his God-like form no less than twenty- 
three wounds. Some citizens of Rome, out of grati- 
tude to Pompey, who had advanced the price of city 
lots by a liberal expenditure of money for improve- 
ments in their locality, presented him with a superb 
statue of himself (still extant). This statue Pompey 
had placed in a room contiguous to his senate chamber. 
Caesar was doubtless pushed or jostled into this room. 

" And in his mantle muffling up his face, 
Even at the base of Pompey 's statue, 
Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell." 

His body was borne to his home under the Palatine 
hills by three slaves, and the following day brought to 
the Forum and placed in front of the Rostra Julia. 
From this platform, with the dead body of Caesar be- 
fore him, and in plain view of the crowd, Marc Antony 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 217 

delivered his funeral oration. As there were no short- 
hand reporters in those days to take down his speech, 
we must content ourselves with Shakespeare's version. 
It must have been a powerful appeal to the passions 
of men, for the people insisted on lighting his funeral 
pyre here, and it is a well authenticated fact of his- 
tory that his ashes were buried on this spot and a tem- 
ple erected over them. It is now a heap of ruins eight 
or ten feet in heigh th, and, as it was connected with 
the Rostra Julia, we climbed to the spot where Marc 
Antony stood, not forgetting that it was the tomb of 
the great Caesar — the noblest Roman of them all. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



ROME CONTINUED. 



Perhaps there is nothing left of classic Rome that 
gives one a better idea of its grandeur than its arches, 
thirteen in number, erected at various periods and in 
various localities to perpetuate and glorify the names 
and worthy actions of favorite emperors. They were 
erected in a conspicuous place, usually spanning a 
street or roadway, and consisted sometimes of a single 
arch, and again they were double or triple. Without 
knowing the exact dimensions of any, I should judge, 
by the measurement of the eye, that they might ap- 
proximate from seventy to one hundred feet in height, 
sixty feet in width, and twelve to twenty in thickness. 
As a rule they were constructed of volcanic stone and 
marble, sometimes surmounted by marble statues of 
men and animals, and embellished with sculptures in 
bas relief, commemorative of such events as were de- 
signed to be perpetuated. In some instances they 
served a two-fold purpose of a monument and an 
aqueduct over which water was conveyed to various 
parts of the city. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 219 

I have already mentioned the Colosseum and the 
old Roman Forum. Well, the arch of Titus stands on 
a ridge between these two ruins. It is a single arch, 
erected after the death of that doughty warrior and 
emperor,, as a triumphal arch commemorating the cap- 
ture of the Jews and destruction of Jerusalem. A 
piece of sculpture in bas relief represents a triumphal 
procession, with Titus in a chariot advancing to the 
temple of Jupiter, while in the procession are borne 
as trophies the seven branched candlestick and tables 
of shewbread from the temple at Jerusalem. Titus 
was emperor for two years and died in 81 of the Chris- 
tian era. 

On some of these arches one sees the initial letters 
S. P. Q. R., which signify the Senate and People of 
Rome ; so by the order of the S. P. Q. R, an arch was 
erected to Constantine the Great to " commemorate 
the victory of the first Christian emperor." This arch 
stands facing the Colosseum and is triple in construc- 
tion. It has handsome columns supporting statues, 
and a number of fine bas reliefs both within the main 
arch and its exterior walls. To effect this, the arch of 
Trajan, a much older structure, was denuded of its 
decorations. This arch is such a model of beauty and 
symmetry that modern nations have copied it. In no 
less than three other cities I have seen arches the 
duplicate of this, except the decorations. The Con- 
stantine in whose honor this arch was erected reigned 



220 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

as emperor thirty-one years, dying at Constantinople 
in 337 A. D. 

The fine columns and obelisks that point heaven- 
ward in Rome are too numerous to receive from my 
pen more than a brief mention. The Column of Tra- 
jan, one hundred and twenty-seven feet in height, 
constructed of marble and decorated with thousands 
of figures, is very beautiful and impressive. It was 
erected A. D. 114, by the Emperor Trajan himself as 
a mausoleum for his bones, and history records that 
his remains were buried here. He, of all the Roman 
emperors, has the proud distinction of resting within 
the walls of his capital city. Surmounting this superb 
work of art is a statue of St. Peter, eleven feet in 
height, which owes its paternity to Pope Sixtus the 
Fifth, or Fiftheth the Sixth, I am not clear which. 

In the Plazzo Colona — a large square or court, where 
a brass band discourses excellent music during the 
evening, and where the populace of Rome now-a-days 
throngs to interview King Gambrinus and gaze at the 
electric lights through the bottom of a beer mug — 
stands another splendid column, that of Marcus Au- 
relius. It is composed of white marble blocks, one 
hundred and thirty-seven feet in height, with fine 
sculpture representing scenes from battles fought in 
Germany. It is surmounted by a statue of St. Paul — 
another monument to commemorate the zeal and ar- 
tistic propensities of Pope Sixtus the Fifth. Napoleon, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 221 

when he conquered a province, fixed his eagle eye on 
any worthy objects of art, if any there were, lying 
around loose, and sent them home as trophies. The 
emperors of Rome, whom Napoleon imitated, made 
heavy drafts on the antiquities of conquered Egypt, 
and embarked extensively in the obelisk business, 
there being no less than twelve of these shafts stand- 
ing in Rome — monuments, not to the greatness of 
Rome but of a civilization surpassing that of Rome, 
and dating far anterior to it. Thus, for instance, the 
obelisk of Monte Cavalla dates back three thousand 
nine hundred and sixty-one years, or more than 
two thousand years before Joseph fled with Mary and 
the young Child into Egypt. The obelisks range in 
height from fifteen feet to one hundred and five feet. 
They are simply tapering quadrilateral shafts of stone, 
upon which are inscribed hieroglyphics relating to the 
philosophy of the times, or commemorating events in 
the reigns of the early kings of Egypt. 

Of the bridges that span the Tiber I shall mention 
but two. The bridge of St. Angelo, which we crossed 
in order to reach the Vatican, is a superb structure of 
stone, built by the Emperor Hadrian one thousand 
seven hundred and fifty years ago. The approaches 
and sides are beautified by ten marble statues repre- 
senting guardian angels, and two colossal statues of 
Peter and Paul. In crossing the bridge towards the 
Vatican one is much impressed with a huge castellated 



222 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

edifice right in the front, which was once the tomb of 
Hadrian, but is now called the Castle of St. Angelo. 
It has been an appendage of the Vatican, once contain- 
ing its archives and treasures, and serving as a fortress 
and, at times, as a prison. Its guns were cast from 
bronze, appropriated from the roof of the Pantheon. 

The Sublician bridge which we entered only on foot 
because of its unsafe condition, is not remarkable as a 
structure, but there are scraps of history and legends 
connected with it that render it somewhat interesting. 
I remember when a boy (ancient history being a hobby 
with me then, whatever it is now) reading of Horatius 
and two other Roman nobles defending a bridge 
against the advancing foe. They held their position 
until their friends broke the bridge down in their rear, 
when Horatius jumped into the murky waters of the 
Tiber, with all his armor on, and swam to the other 
side, coloring the water as he went with his blood that 
poured from a wound in his hip made by a Tuscan 
spear. That happened in the heroic age of the world, 
and this was the bridge where it occurred. 

The Pantheon is an object of interest which deserves 
a more minute description than I am able to give it. 
At the present time it is a papal church ; twenty years 
before the birth of Christ it was the sweating room of 
a public bath. But its construction was so perfect, 
and its design such a marvel of architectural excellence 
that it was diverted from the purpose for which it was 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 223 

intended, and consecrated to the gods as a temple 
worthy of pagan divinity. It has survived the wasting 
tooth of time, the ravages of red handed war, the 
cremating effects of fire, and the convulsions of old 
mother earth herself when houses toppled over in 
Rome like the card houses of children. In a few 
words, the Pantheon is a circular and dome shaped 
building, constructed of brick. It is without windows 
and receives its light from the dome above, a circular 
'open space twenty-eight feet in diameter. The interior 
is one hundred and fortj^-two feet in diameter and one 
hundred and forty-three feet in height. It is entered 
from a portico containing sixteen Corinthian columns 
forty-six and one-half feet high and five feet in diame- 
ter. Within its walls rest the remains of King Victor 
Emanuel II., the liberator of Italy and friend of Gari- 
baldi. It is also the burial place of Eaphael, the peer, 
if not prince, of the " old masters." 

In all the old cities we have visited, the churches 
have been an especial object of interest, but nowhere 
else under the sun do they present the same attractive 
features as in Rome. You may go into almost any 
church, at any hour of the day, and you find worship- 
pers on their knees before some patron saint. 

The intrusion of a gabbling bevy of sight seers from 
across the Atlantic fails to divert them for an instant 
from their devotions. Whilst Rome is priest ridden, 
and churches abound as numerously as real estate of- 



224 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

fices in Wichita when the boom is on, one's sensibili- 
ties are shocked when they see how little the Sabbath 
day is respected as a day of rest, to say nothing of a 
day of holiness. The shops are kept open as on week 
days, and the traffic on the streets is scarcely dimin- 
ished by a single sand cart. In the evening the pnblic 
squares are Parisian in their gayety, and the worship 
of Bacchus has more devotees by gas light than Saint 
Peter, Christ, and the Virgin Mary in the sombre light 
admitted through the stained windows of all the 
churches at midday. Priests and monks are encoun- 
tered everywhere, and now and then a beggar swoops 
down upon some unprotected American as though he 
were his lawful spoil. Where there is so much pov- 
erty there must also be great wealth, else how could 
an army of priests and a city of churches be main- 
tained? The priests are proverbially sleek and fat, 
their parishioners of the order of the " lean kine." 
Having stated these wholesome truths and relieved my 
mind of the weight of their importance, I am prepared 
to hasten on to a description of such churches as our 
limited time permitted us to visit. 

In full view from our hotel stands the Basilica of 
St. Maria Maggiore, occupying a central position be- 
tween two squares, upon which are erected one of the 
obelisks mentioned above, and a column forty-six feet 
high with a bronze statue of the Madonna. The church 
is entered by a broad flight of steps extending nearly, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 22o 

if not quite, across the imposing front. It was erected 
A. D. 352, and tradition says that the cause which led 
to its location on this spot was a miraculous fall of 
snow in the month of August, which, as it descended 
on this elevation, and nowhere else, was conclusive to 
the mind of Pope Liberius that the Lord wanted a 
temple right here. When a person has seen one .bas- 
ilica, there is no new feature to behold in others, aside 
from decorations. This one has a high altar, covered 
by a canopy resting on four columns of porphyry. A 
sarcophagus under the altar contains, so we are told, 
the remains of St. Matthew and portions of the manger 
cradle of Christ. In one of the side rooms or chapels 
is a painting of the Virgin and Child, said to be the 
artistic work of St. Luke. Let me see ! Luke, if I am 
not mistaken, has been dead for over eighteen hundred 
years. What a remarkable souvenir of one of the 
" four witnesses ; ' this is ! The tomb of Sixtus the 
Fifth is here, and it is without question an exquisite 
piece of workmanship. The late Pope Pius IX. had 
designed that his bones should find a resting place 
here, but his quarrel with the King precluded him 
from applying to that personage for permission to be 
buried within the walls of the city. His remains have 
found a temporary resting place, outside of the city, 
in the church of St. Lorenzo. 

We were told that the first gold brought from Amer- 

15 



226 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

ica was given to the pope by Ferdinand and Isabella to 
adorn this church. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



ROME CONTINUED. 



The church of St. John of Latern, founded by Con- 
stantine, is considered the mother of churches. The 
bishop of Rome takes his title from this church. Its 
late bishop was Pope Pius IX., and the present one is 
Leo XIII., Pope of Rome and head of the Catholic 
church. There are several chapels in this church 
richly decorated with paintings, mosaics and statues. 
Turn whichever way you will and the eye rests on 
some magnificent piece of sculpture. Above the high 
altar is a Gothic tabernacle containing the heads (?) of 
Peter and Paul. As we passed out of this magnificent 
edifice the guide halted us and called our attention to 
the huge bronze doors that had just closed behind us. 
" These," said he, " are the bronze doors to the senate 
chamber that in the days of Julius Caesar, forty-four 
years before Christ, hung there facing the old Roman 
forum." 

Across the street or open space diagonally is the 
Scala Santa, reached by twenty-eight marble steps, 
now encased in wood, which it is said our Savior de- 



228 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

scended after his coronation in the judgment hall of 
Pilate. They were brought hither from Jerusalem by 
St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, in the fourth 
century. They are of marble, which became so worn 
by constant use as to render it imperative that they 
should either be encased in wood or laid by, to be 
gazed on as a sacred relic. 

No one is permitted to go up these stairs unless 
he ascend them on his knees. We found four per- 
sons doing penance in this manner, and the thought 
occurred to me, as I cast my eye up to where various 
stages had been attained in this novel ascent, of what 
heinous crimes had these poor wretches been guilty 
that a penalty so humiliating and exhausting should 
be required of them ; and then I remembered that 
this was Rome, where the blind faith and usages of 
the dark ages were still practised. Martin Luther 
had ascended these self-same steps until he got about 
halfway up; he said a voice then whispered to him, 
" The just shall live by faith." He immediately arose 
to his feet and walked down. There was considerable 
bantering in our party which one should imitate Lu- 
ther, but after polling the entire outfit there was not 
one of all the twenty who had the — what shall I call 
it, irreverence, or temerity? — to bend the knee even at 
the initial step. 

Out on the Appian way, a good long ride from the 
city, is the church of St. Sebastian. The church does 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 229 

not amount to anything except as the entrance to the 
catacombs of the same name. On entering the church 
each ghoul composing the party was given a tallow 
dip. Heavy wraps were put on, and in single file, 
each one bearing his or her greasy taper, we descended 
into the bowels of the earth, as it were. These cata- 
combs, as everyone knows, were the ancient burial 
places of the Eomans. They are simply underground 
chambers filled with dead men's bones, and are con- 
nected by a labyrinth of passages as bewildering as the 
streets of London. When the early Christians were 
hunted like wild beasts and brought into the Colos- 
seum for torture and death by the ten thousands, they 
sought, as a last refuge, safety in the various cata- 
combs that line the Appian way. It was into one of the 
least important of these we were conducted. It was 
not a pleasant experience, and I will spare your sensi- 
bilities. 

Near this church is the tomb of St. Cecilia, the wife 
of Sylla. It is a circular tower seventy feet in diame- 
ter and perhaps one hundred feet high. It is one of 
the best preserved ruins about Rome, and ante-dates 
the birth of Christ seventy-nine years. 

Opposite are the ruins of the circus of Maxentius, 
which gives one a pretty good idea of what a circus 
was fifteen hundred years ago. This one was oblong, 
fifteen hundred and seventy-four feet by two hundred 
and sixty-nine feet, and accommodated eighteen thou- 



230 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

sand spectators. Long stretches of the walls are still 
remaining. 

Having crossed to the other side of the Tiber we 
drove np past the fountains into the semi-circle of the 
Vatican and mounted the steps to St. Peter's. In my 
day dreams and musings along through the years that 
have passed since arriving at man's estate, I have pic- 
tured to myself this acme of architectural skill. I 
have formed opinions of its beauty and magnitude from 
accounts I had read of it. I suppose now that if I had 
gone through Europe blindfolded, and removed the 
bandage only after I had entered St. Peter's, all my ex- 
pectations would have been realized. I must confess 
to a feeling of disappointment, which I tried in vain 
to shake off, even after a second visit, when, on Sun- 
day, I had plenty of leisure to attend service in one of 
its numerous chapels, and roam, at my own sweet will, 
throughout its length and breadth. Whether its im- 
mensity was beyond my comprehension, or my pre- 
conceived ideas of it were so exalted as to dwarf it 
when in its actual presence, is a problem I am not able 
to solve. When a mosaic representing St. Luke writing 
with a quill at a distance, apparently, of two hundred 
feet above me, was pointed out, and I was assured that 
the quill was seven feet in length, I couldn't believe it. 
My sense of measurement told me that it could not 
possibly be more than two feet long. Figures that I 
was told were colossal, appeared as life size. 



FROM NTLE TO NILE. 231 

St. Peter's was built by Constantine, A. D. 326, on 
the site of Nero's circus (where, they say, Peter 
was martyred). Ambrose relates that on Peter's 
second visit to Rome he found the Christians in great 
distress, and the feeling against them, incited by Si- 
mon Magus, intensely bitter. The friends of Christ- 
ianity fearing that the Apostle's life would be taken, 
appealed to him to leave the city and seek a place 
of safety elsewhere. Peter reluctantly consented, 
and fled by night, but at one of the gates of the city 
he encountered one in the form of the Savior and 
questioned him as to where he was going ; the sor- 
rowful reply was made, " To Rome, to be crucified 
a second time." Peter took this for a reflection on 
his courage, and so returned to his abode, and was 
afterwards, with Paul, cast into the Mamertine Prison, 
pointed out to us from the Forum, but which we 
did not enter. I understand the pillar is shown to 
which Peter was chained. Some Protestants are slow 
to believe that St. Peter was martyred in Rome, or, in 
fact, that he was ever there in person, while others 
claim that from this prison he wrote his second epistle 
to the Jews. I believe all fair minded people are wil- 
ling to accept the general account that has come down 
to us through the ages, even if not confirmed by Scrip- 
ture. By the order of Nero both Peter and Paul were 
condemned to death. Peter was led from the prison 
to the Vatican Hill and there crucified with his head 



232 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

downwards — choosing this posture because he deemed 
himself unworthy to die as the Master. His body was 
taken from the cross and embalmed by one Mercellinus, 
and buried near the Appian Way, about two miles 
from Rome, from whence it was removed to an obscure 
place in the city, until Constantine built St. Peter's, 
which occupies the site of the present unequaled edi- 
fice. 

Charlemagne and many emperors and popes were 
crowned there. It was subsequently razed to the 
ground, and in 1450 to 1626 the present church was 
built, Raphael, Michael Angelo, and Bernini, who put 
the finishing touches upon it, being among its archi- 
tects. " It cost over sixty millions of dollars, took 
one hundred and seventy-six years (the reigns of twen- 
ty-eight popes) to build it, and covers two hundred and 
forty thousand feet, being the largest church in the 
world. Its total length is six hundred and ninety-six 
feet, length of transept four hundred and fifty feet, 
length of nave six hundred and nineteen feet, width of 
nave eighty-eight feet, height of same one hundred 
and fifty-three feet, height of dome, from pavement 
to base of lantern, four hundred and forty feet. The 
interior has thirty altars, one hundred and forty-eight 
columns, inlaid marble pavement, brilliantly gilded 
vaulting upheld by Corinthian pillars and piers, famous 
bronze statue of St. Peter enthroned, many colossal 
statues of saints, vast inscriptions and pictures in mo- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 233 

saic, canopy ninety-five feet high made by Bernini of 
bronze and taken from the Pantheon, high altar over 
the tomb of St. Peter, beautiful chapel, tombs of the 
popes, many paintings by great masters, and statues 
of Michael Angelo, Canova, and Thorwaldsen." 

In one of the chapels we witnessed the ceremony of 
the christening of an infant ; and standing in front of 
the statue of St. Peter, in bronze, we viewed the mot- 
ley throng who took their turn in kissing the toe of 
the apostle's effigy. The left transept was the space 
occupied by the Ecumenical council at their sessions a 
few years since, when the doctrine of infallibility was 
declared. 

The Vatican, which adjoins St. Peter's, has the dis- 
tinction of being the largest palace in the world. 
Think of eleven thousand halls and rooms being con- 
tained in one building. It has for many centuries 
been the abiding place of the popes, and at one time 
furnished kingly apartments to the ubiquitous Charle- 
magne. On entering the vast hall that leads to the 
museums to which visitors are admitted, one is struck 
with the fantastic uniforms worn by the Swiss guards 
in attendance, which were designed by Michael Angelo, 
and in the years that have fled since he passed away, 
say a period of three hundred, no change has been 
attempted. These guards are an especial feature of 
the Vatican, being subject only to the order of the 
pope. They are usually of almost gigantic stature, 



234 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

like the body guard of Frederick the Great, and their 
unique uniform of yellow and red, with brass helmet, 
seems only befitting the tinsel of the stage. 

We first entered the Sistine chapel, built by his 
holiness, Pope Sixtus IV., in 1473. The chief object 
of attraction here is the great fresco of Michael 
Angelo, representing " The Last Judgment." He was 
eight years engaged at this work, and completed it in 
his sixty-ninth year. Viewed from the further end of 
the hall the figures stand out like colossal sculptures 
in bas relief. The figure in the right hand corner, 
representing Midas with ass' ears, is not a celebrated 
New York philanthropist, but a man of the same 
stripe, Messer Biago of Casena, the pope's master of 
ceremonies, who said the nude figures were indecent, 
on which account the pope ordered Daniel da Volterra 
to cover them with drapery, which obtained for him a 
cognomen of " breeches-maker." Michael Angelo said, 
" Let the pope reform the world and the pictures will 
reform themselves," and to spite Biago he represented 
him in hell, whereat he complained to the pope in 
order to have his figure removed. His holiness replied 
that lm as he was in hell he must remain there, as he 
had no power to release from hell, but from purga- 
tory." 

From this chapel, which is one of the sights of the 
Vatican, we passed into the picture galleries, contain- 
ing a vast number of frescoes, mosaics and paintings, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 235 

both modern and ancient. Here is Raphael's mas- 
terpiece, " The Transfiguration," and a great many 
other works by the same hand, also by Murillo, Titian, 
and others known to fame. Many of these paintings 
were taken by Napoleon from the churches in Rome 
and appropriated by himself. As in the case of Ru- 
bens' two masterpieces, taken by him from the cathe- 
dral at Antwerp, they were returned after his down- 
fall, and those belonging to Rome are now contained 
in this collection. The museum of sculpture is quite 
extensive. Many of the figures have served as models 
for half the statuary that graces the museums of 
Europe and America. 

There are eighteen hundred pieces here exhibited, 
including Apollo Belvedere, Juno, Minerva, Mercury, 
Penelope, the reclining statue of Ariadne, the bust of 
Caesar Augustus, Socrates, Demosthenes, Diogenes, 
Homer, and, in fact, all the demi-gods, muses, and 
great personages who figured in the history of classic 
Greece and Rome. There is an armless statue called 
the Torso of Hercules, which is considered to be 
the most perfect resemblance to human flesh extant. 
It was so admired by Raphael and Michael Angelo 
that the latter accepted it as his model and claimed to 
be its pupil. There are two tolerably modern statues 
of The Combatants, that for poise and facial expression 
have no rivals in marble. 



236 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The last church visited in regular routine was that 
of St. Paul, two miles from the city, on the Tiber be- 
low Rome. The original church built by Constantine 
was destroyed by fire in 1828, rebuilt in 1854, but is 
not yet completed. When Paul was led forth to exe- 
cution he suffered martyrdom as a Roman citizen. He 
was decapitated at the Aquise Salvia?, three miles from 
Rome, and was buried, it is said, on the present site 
of the temple that bears his name. The exterior is 
not imposing, although an ornamentation in mosaic, 
on the facade or front of the basilica, is charming. 
The mosaic was manufactured in the Vatican ; it took 
thirteen years to complete it, and is composed of twen- 
ty-three thousand different shades of material. The 
interior of St. Paul is grand and gorgeous beyond my 
ability to describe. It is the most perfect and elabo- 
rately finished building of the kind in Rome. Its mar- 
ble floors cast a reflection like a mirror, and the hand- 
some stained windows admit a soft, subdued light con- 
sistent with the polished marble walls, floors, and col- 
umns, the alabaster pillars that support the canopy, 
given by Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, and the mal- 
achite altars, donated by the Czar of Russia. 

The decorations consist of superb statues, one each 
of Peter and Paul, and the walls are adorned with fine 
paintings and mosaics, whilst above the columns are 
portraits of all the popes, commencing with St. Peter. 

Thus we closed our brief but absorbing tour of Rome. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



PISA TURIN — MILAN. 



We left Rome on the morning of the " Feast of the 
Assumption," in the observance of which the papal 
city had donned holiday attire. Great crowds of work- 
ing people in their best clothes nocked to the railway 
depot intent on boarding a train that would take them 
to their homes for the enjoyment of a brief holiday. 
Our route led us in a northerly direction, coasting the 
blue Mediterranean, over a stretch of low, level coun- 
try, for the most part given up to grazing. In the 
distance, rising out of the sea, lay the island that 
made France great, Corsica, the birthplace of the 
Bonapartes, and close by, the island of Elba, to which 
Xapoleon was banished, and where pity he had not 
died, instead of fretting his heart away in chagrin and 
the bitterness of defeat at St. Helena. 

Along in the afternoon we reached Pisa, where 
every schoolboy knows stands the leaning tower that 
has been the wonder of mankind for more than six 
hundred years. Pisa is a quiet city of fifty thousand 
people, built on both sides of the river Arno, about 



238 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

fifty miles from Florence and twelve from Leghorn. 
It is much visited by tourists on account of its medie- 
val attractions, although its history dates back to a 
period long antedating the Christian era, for it became 
subject to Rome 180 B. C. 

Having a spare hour or two before dinner (seven 
o'clock) we repaired to that interesting corner where 
are grouped the cathedral, baptistry, Campo Santo, and 
campanile, or leaning tower. We were just in the 
nick of time to witness the ceremonies of the Feast of 
Assumption then taking place in the cathedral, con- 
ducted by the bishop of that diocese. There was an 
immense crowd in attendance, nearly all standing, and 
we had to do considerable elbowing to keep out of the 
bishop's way, as in grand procession, with flowing 
robes and censors swinging, he descended from the 
throne and passed through the body of the house. Of 
course, being protestants, we cared more for antiquities 
than for papal forms and ceremonies. As the Catholic 
churches all derive a revenue from visiting tourists, 
we never considered that we were intruding, no matter 
what the occasion. We paid our money to see the 
show, and aimed to get the worth of it. 

We seldom entered a church for the purpose of sight 
seeing without a guide. On this occasion he had his 
hands full. It was a difficult matter to get his audi- 
ence together before a painting and talk against the 
loud peals of an organ assisted by a hundred voices 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 239 

and a section of a brass band. I don't know what the 
people thought, but they stared at us as if we were es- 
caped lunatics. In the noise and confusion that pre- 
vailed, we paid but little heed to the guide, but on our 
own hook silently admired the antique columns sup- 
porting the gilded ceilings of Tuscan-Gothic architec- 
ture, the carved pulpit and the altars, designed by 
Michael Angelo, the bronze doors, rare pictures, and 
the veritable swinging lamp from which Galileo got 
the idea of the pendulum. 

In close proximity to the cathedral stands the bap- 
tistry, said to be without a peer in the world. I guess 
there is no question about it. It is built of marble, 
one hundred feet in diameter and one hundred and 
ninety feet high. The baptismal font stands in the cen- 
ter, and a little to one side is a unique pulpit standing 
on seven columns, with some superb sculptures in bas 
relief. The echo here obtained is something wonder- 
ful. Our guide produced sounds with his voice that 
came back to us with all the sweet cadences of a flute, 
or that could be produced by a deep-toned organ. 

The Campo Santo is a small square filled in with 
earth transported in ships from the Holy Land. It 
represents a cloister surrounded by a hall over four 
hundred feet long and one hundred and fifty feet wide, 
constructed in 1278, and contains many frescoes and 
splendid monuments. One of the old frescoes, dim 
with age, is a representation of hell. It is on an ex- 



240 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tensive scale and horrible enough to have been painted 
by Gustave Dore. It had now grown too late to do 
anything more than inspect the great tower from the 
outside. 

The next morning, before train time, a party of us 
returned, and, after gaining admittance, commenced 
the spiral ascent to the belfry. There are two hundred 
and eighty-four steps to climb, and, as the guide face- 
tiously remarked, two hundred and eighty-four to come 
down. There were only two ladies of our party pos- 
sessing the temerity to undertake the task. They 
hailed from Kansas and Massachusetts, and showed 
their pluck, not only in reaching the belfry, but after 
having obtained an elevation of one hundred and sev- 
enty-five feet and fourteen out of the perpendicular, 
laid hold of the rope, which the tired bell ringer was 
monotonously pulling to and fro, and infused some of 
their superabundant energy into the tongue of the old 
bell that made it fairly talk. The view from here is 
magnificent. One can see the Apennines, the rich val- 
ley of the Arno, through which the river winds like a 
silver ribbon, the azure sea reflecting an azure sky- 
save where two black looking hulks, Elba and Corsica, 
seem to float on its surface ; lastly, the old city towards 
which you lean and grow dizzy. 

The principal occupation of the Pisans seems to be 
delving and dealing in marble. The best quarries of 
Parian marble are not far from here. This excellent 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 241 

material of virgin purity and whiteness is sculptured 
into all manner of statues, statuettes and brick-a-brac, 
but in the latter alabaster is used to a considerable 
extent. In Pisa, as elsewhere in Italy, the most skill- 
ful workmen in mosaics, precious stones, and marbles 
are Jews, and I might add that the handling and sale 
of them are almost exclusively confined to men and 
women of their race. Generally speaking, they are 
eager to sell, and will " knock down " handsomely 
rather than not effect a sale. It became second nature 
to some of us to select an article, price it, offer twenty 
per cent less, and break for the door. A hurried invi- 
tation to " come back " always resulted in a trade. 
My fancy caught on to an exquisite little marble 
Psyche, about sixteen inches in height, which Isaac 
priced to me at twenty-five lire. I offered him twenty, 
at which he looked horrified and shook his head. I 
turned my back upon him and started for the hotel, 
but had scarcely got five steps from the door when I 
felt a hand laid on my shoulder, accompanied by the 
persuasive words, " Come back." It is needless to say 
I went. 

From Pisa we journeyed direct to Turin, where 
there is nothing to see except a very clean and pros- 
perous city of two hundred and twenty thousand peo- 
ple, with wide streets laid out at right angles, and 
arcades around the principal squares and business 
streets. The street car system is fine and traverses all 

16 



242 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

parts of the city. The shops are perfect models of 
neatness and filled to overflowing with merchandise. 
Of course the windows, as is the case all over Europe, 
mirror the contents of each store in a manner truly 
fascinating to the onlooker. 

One obtains a charming view of the snow-clad sum- 
mit of the Alps from here, and after the terrible heat 
of southern Italy it was quite a solace to look at the 
mountains and feel the air tempered by the icy breath 
of the Snow King, who dwells in regions exalted as 
the clouds and cruel as the grave. The railway jour- 
ney from Pisa to Turin is not a pleasant one, for it is 
mostly underground. On approaching Turin the road 
leaves the hills that skirt the Gulf of Genoa, and the 
landscape is Southern Kansas to a dot. A thunder 
storm that we ran into completed the illusion for us. 
It was so like one of those sudden downpours, when 
the clouds are ink and heaven's artillery a masked 
battery, if not deadly, still terrifying. 

From Turin to Milan the country is a garden, and a 
well kept one at that. Fruits and flowers, waving 
corn fields and productive rice ponds, an atmosphere 
that Adam left behind him in Eden, a jolly crowd of 
Bohemians, and no care, what more would you want? 
The hotel at Milan was first-class. I consider any 
hotel in Europe first-class when they have an elevator, 
and an incandescent electric light in your room that 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 243 

you can let on or off, like water in a bath tub, at your 
pleasure. 

The first evening in Milan we spent at the opera. 
We secured a box for twenty lire — now don't be 
alarmed, that was only four dollars and the box held 
six of us. The opera was Faust, and as I can't hear 
very well in Italian I was thrown on my recollection 
of the plot for some idea of what it was all about. I 
was glad I went, for I sat in an audience where a man 
applauded if he felt like it, or exercised the divine 
right to hiss if he took exceptions to the performance. 
At times the applause was harmonious, at others the 
hisses assailed your ears like the steam escaping from 
a dozen locomotives. The Fausts and Margaritas met 
the applause with obeisance and smiles, the hisses 
with supreme indifference. The company was a large 
one, with one hundred in the chorus. The orchestra 
seemed nearly as large but evidently were short on 
beer, otherwise they would have got more noise out of 
their horns. 

The next day was a hard one on us, for Milan pos- 
sesses attractions which no tourist can afford to slight, 
and we had but one day at our disposal to take it all 
in. First we went to the cathedral, which ranks in 
size with those of Cologne and Florence. The exterior, 
whilst differing from all others in outward adornment, 
was not so impressive as the Cologne edifice, but then 
it has an individuality of its own, and this, I suppose, 



244 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

is what the architect aimed at. The facade was de- 
signed by that prince of architects, Michael Angelo, 
who has left the imprint of his genius in every city in 
Italy. 

It is a cruciform building, running up into pinnacles 
and turrets, and in various parts of the upper struct- 
ure are four thousand five hundred marble statues, 
most of them life size. The statue of Napoleon is 
perched on one of these pinnacles, and it is fine too. 
On the other pinnacles are statues of men eminent in 
the papal church. I forget who it was that likened 
Napoleon, in this connection, to "the devil amongst 
the saints." In this cathedral Napoleon was crowned 
King of Italy. The guide related the circumstance to 
me this way. Cardinal Capraras refused to place the 
crown on Napoleon's head. He seized it himself, and 
with his own hand placed it there, giving utterance to 
these words, " God gave it to me, let him who will 
touch it at his peril." 

On entering the cathedral our attention was first 
called to the painted ceiling, made to look like open 
work, and, next to the baptistry, constructed to perform 
the rite of baptism by immersion. The marble floors, 
superb stained windows, and curiously wrought pulpit, 
are in keeping with the grandeur of its exterior. We 
descended to the crypt, which was dark and oppressive 
with a heavy atmosphere, and entered the tomb of St. 
Carlo Borromeo, which cost two hundred thousand 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 245 

dollars. The remains are visible, decked with crown 
and cross sparkling with rare jewels. This saint came 
as near taking his riches into the kingdom of heaven 
as the Indian his implements of warfare and the chase 
to the happy hunting grounds. I say this with due 
reverence for this one, whose remains a priest with 
lighted candle exhibits for a stipend, was a man who 
went about doing good. 

From the cathedral we crossed the street to the 
Royal Palace and were conducted through its many 
elegant chambers, with floors of marble and polished 
wood, ceiling richly painted and frescoed, walls hung 
with costly silks and laces and adorned with rare 
paintings, furniture of which any king could be proud 
and a queen or princess satisfied. At Munich, we 
were shown a gorgeous bed prepared for the Emperor 
Napoleon. Here we were shown a couch scarce infe- 
rior, in which Napoleon and the more unfortunate 
Maximilian have sought repose. 

In the church of St. Ambrose, built in the fourth 
century, we beheld the pulpit in which that saint 
preached, and the brazen serpent which Moses held 
up in the wilderness. " If you believe that, you can 
believe anything." We had to believe it, or else dis- 
credit the story of the spike taken from the cross on 
which our Savior was crucified, which is preserved in 
the apse of the cathedral. 



246 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

In this old church the early kings of Lombardy were 
crowned with the iron crown and Augustine embraced 
Christianity. Here also swing the gates that Ambrose 
closed in the face of the Emperor Theodosius, in the 
year 395. In the refectory we were shown the muti- 
lated fresco by Leonardo da Vinci so widely copied, 
"The Last Supper." It covers one end of a hall, and 
a door, cut through by the monks to carry victuals, has 
destroyed the lower part of the center of the picture. 
I rather think this masterpiece of da Vinci's is re- 
garded by art connoisseurs as superior to any work 
performed by any of the old masters. Copyists were 
present, with their easels and canvas, in full force, and 
well executed imitations, nearly completed, were priced 
to us at one thousand francs, but, from circumstances 
over which we had no immediate control, we were 
forced to content ourselves with a photograph at just 
the one thousandth part of the cost of the picture in 
oil. 

In the foregoing chapters I have mentioned visits to 
so many picture galleries that I have grown nervous 
over the result of so much sameness of description ; I 
will therefore forego any allusion to the hours spent, 
with lagging footsteps and wearied eyes, in the picture 
galleries of Milan. 

After we had dismissed our guide, and the relic 
hunters of the party had gone forth to lay waste 
Milan and reduce the Jews to penury, the Judge, the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 247 

Doctor and myself boarded a car bound for the su- 
burbs to take in the military fortifications of the 
Lombards. 

We halted at a vast barren square comprising fully 
one hundred and sixty acres, which we took for 
granted was the drill ground of a considerable portion 
of King Humbert's army. On one side were the in- 
fantry barracks where the undersized " doeboys," that 
formed the strong arm of United Italy, were being 
prepared and fitted against that ever present day of 
dread that hangs over all European nations like a pall 
— when the long roll shall summon to battle. On the 
other side were the barracks of the cavalry from whence 
issued, at the " feed call " of the brazen trumpet's 
mouth, men in dirty linen blouses, with nose bags 
thrown across their shoulders, going in quest of forage 
for the impatient steed that had learned the signifi- 
cance of the bugle calls quite as well as his more in- 
telligent master. 

But it was* not so much a commonplace sight as 
soldier's quarters that brought us hither, as curiosity 
to obtain a good view of the munificent undertaking of 
Napoleon, who in 1804 reared an arch here that vies 
in elegance with that of Constantine in Eome. It was 
intended to designate the ending of the Simplon route 
and commemorate the victories which his genius had 
won, but he failed to complete it, and in 1830 Austria 



248 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

had the gall to utilize it to her own glory by setting 
forth in figurative reliefs her victories over the French. 

When Milan, by the fortunes of war, became a part 
of reconstructed Italy, Victor Emanuel caused inscrip- 
tions to be chiseled upon it that will remain a testi- 
monial of his greatness so long as Italy maintains its 
present cohesiveness. The other work of Napoleon, 
which is scarcely worthy of him, is an amphitheater 
capable of seating thirty thousand people. I fancy he 
got his design from the circus of Maxentius — the 
grand ruin that rears its broken walls along the Ap- 
pian way. 

From sunny Italy with its wealth of ruins, its mar- 
ble palaces, magnificent churches and incomparable 
works of art the readers will be invited to follow me 
into picturesque Switzerland, where only the match- 
less works of the Great master Hand of the universe 
shall engage our attention. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



SWITZERLAND. 



I am writing of Switzerland, far away from its snow 
capped mountains , glaciered gulches, and azure lakes, 
with something of an effort to warm over the inspira- 
tion engendered whilst in the actual presence of its 
wondrous beauty and marvelous grandeur ; and yet, 
why should it be an effort to write of these when the 
golden chalice of memory presents a sweeter draught 
than inspiration's cup rendered less potent by the fa- 
tigues of travel, and the depressing thought, that it 
must all too soon be as the spring that has run dry. 

To " do " Europe and skip Switzerland, is to play 
Hamlet with the leading character left out, or to join 
an excursion in the East for Kansas, and be denied a 
sight of the American Nile. 

Switzerland is the Garden of the Gods, and, like 
Eden, has no duplicate. 

The man who has no poetry in his soul wants to 
shun it. 

The delicately reared woman of the hot-house order 
should give it a wide berth. 



250 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The man who finds old castles, art galleries, churches, 
and the relics of effete monarchy cloying to the appe- 
tite and hard to digest, can tamper with the wonders 
of nature as here set forth so profusely, and surprise 
his own stomach by the richness of the repast, and the 
ease with which it is assimilated. 

The little old republic is a "gem of purest ray, se- 
rene," which one can enter with trunks that would 
discount the luggage of a Saratoga belle, and have no 
custom house minion lay himself wide open to " pocket 
an insult." 

One travels in Switzerland with a degree of comfort 
truly surprising, considering the perpendicularity of 
the country. 

Their railway system is admirably adapted, not only 
to their institutions, but to serve the convenience and 
comfort of travelers. We no sooner arrived at the de- 
pot at Milan, outward bound, than we discovered, 
much to our delight, that we should occupy a car made 
expressly for tourists, with end and side platforms sur- 
rounded by an iron railing, thus affording the best op- 
portunity in the world to view the mountain scenery 
through which we were shortly to pass. Of course, on 
entering the St. Gothard tunnel we had to crawl into 
our holes, but a good portion of that delightful and 
long to be remembered journey from Milan to Lucerne 
was performed in the open air. About thirty miles 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 251 

from the former city we came in sight of Lake Como, 
and skirted its rock-bound coast for several miles. 

This beautiful stretch of water is in Italy, but 
deserves classification with the azure lakes of Switzer- 
land. It is eighteen hundred feet deep, thirty-two 
miles long and about two miles and a half wide. 
Wherever humanity could get a foothold on its 
precipitous shores or narrow beach, the white walls 
and red tiled roofs of towns and villages are to be 
seen. 

The St. Gothard is the longest tunnel in the world. 
Its approaches afford an infinite variety of striking 
scenery and the tortuous windings of the road are 
exceeded only by that matchless piece of engineering — 
the Denver and Rio Grande railway. Along the route 
were numerous waterfalls that leaped a thousand feet 
from their snowy beds, and in their mad descent spread 
out at times like a huge bridal veil. 

In little patches of meadow land found here and 
there in the narrow pass we were traversing, peasant 
men and women were making hay in the old style, 
cutting the short grass with a scythe, scattering it 
with a fork and raking it up into narrow windrows 
with superannuated wooden rakes. 

On reaching the summit of the pass, the temperature 
became decidedly chilly, the sky was overcast and 
the clouds looked ominous, the Doctor declared it 
was actually snowing. Be that as it may, as the train 



252 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

approached Lucerne the clouds " gave down" beauti- 
fully, shutting out all the picturesque scenery of 
which the eye never tires, and making things sloppy 
in Lucerne for the balance of the evening. 

We found the hotel where we expected to stop over 
from Friday until Monday, filled to overflowing, and 
so had to stay in another one not so pretentious, 
where we dragged our unwilling feet up five flights of 
stairs to the attic which was only endurable because it 
appeared to be the only port left us in a storm. What 
was true of Lucerne we found of every city in Switzer- 
land; that the hotels were literally packed with 
tourists. All the steamboats and trains were crowded, 
and unless a diligence was engaged several days in 
advance the probabilities were that you would not find 
a vacant seat. 

Lucerne is a city of 20,000 people, situated on the 
lake of that name. There is a legend told here with 
great unction, that Pontius Pilate, after assenting to 
the death of our Savior, fled from Jerusalem in great 
remorse of conscience to a mountain in this vicinity 
which takes his name and that his spirit still dwells 
there and haunts the waters. At times an old man 
with hoary locks and the weight of years on his stoop- 
ing shoulders, is seen to issue from a cleft in the 
mountain and approach the shore ; he bends down and 
washes his hands and then disappears. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 253 

Lucerne is the most beautiful of all the Swiss lakes. 
It is also known as the Lake of the Four Cantons. It 
is fourteen hundred and thirty-three feet above sea 
level, is fifty-five miles long and one to four miles 
wide. Many steamers, handsomely fitted up for pleas- 
ure boats, ply on its waters. 

Our itinerary for the first day included the ascent 
of Rigi, and a tour of the lake to Fluelen and return. 
The Rigi is a group of mountains nearly surrounded 
by three lakes, the highest peak being Kulm, which 
we ascended by means of a railway similar to that at 
Mount Washington : a locomotive pushing a single 
car almost to the summit of the Kulm, a distance of 
four and a half miles. The incline is at an angle, or 
scale, of one foot in four. The road spans some fright- 
ful chasms. The ascent is far from reassuring to one's 
nerves. A number of fine hotels have been erected at 
the various stations along the route, but I can't see 
why anybody, unless enamored of the ever recurring 
and disappearing fog, would care to prolong a stay for 
a greater period than would secure to him one clear 
day in which to view the rising and setting sun across 
the snowy peaks where " Alps on Alps " rear their 
hoary heads till their summits seem to pierce the skies. 

Wherever there was soil sufficient for grass to take 
root, the sleek mouse-colored cattle, peculiar to this 
region, nipped the short herbage. Their uniform- 
ity of color and style denoted pureness of blood. In 



254 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

everything except size they are the exact counter- 
part of the little Jerseys. I was informed that several 
exportations for breeding purposes had been made to 
America. If they flourish in the rich pastures of the 
New World as they do here on the close croppings of 
their native hillsides, they cannot fail to be a valuable 
acquisition to the herds of thoroughbreds, which have 
worked such a revolution in the cattle interests in all 
the states in the past twenty-five years. Elsewhere 
throughout Switzerland the absence of live stock is 
remarkable. Nine-tenths of all the farming opera- 
tions — if you can dignify the cultivation of a ten acre 
patch of mountain side, or a less number of acres of 
gravelly bottom land, with the distinction that at- 
taches to a farm — are performed without the aid of 
any four footed beast. 

The Swiss peasant is, to my mind, the hardest 
worked and poorest paid laborer in Europe. His crop 
of hay, secured for the sustenance of the goats where- 
by the supply of Sweitzerkase is perpetuated, is packed 
in bundles and carried on the head, uphill and down, 
and often a long distance to the goat shed. By reason 
of the shortness of the season and the sterility of the 
soil, but a meager crop is secured. Hay in Kansas, 
marketed under the same circumstances, would be 
worth, I immagine, about ninety-eight dollars a ton. 
It is truly pitiable to see these hard-worked, under-paid 
and under-fed people in the struggle for existence 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 255 

economizing in the minutest respect in everything. 
Their industry and frugality were a common subject of 
remark, for they were ever present before us. Children 
at the age of four years are taught to knit, and the 
little weazened faces on the doorsteps that looked at 
us with eyes askance, the flaxen hair twisted in a little 
knot like their mother's, the bare feet and coarse 
though tidy gown, the poor little thin hands that so 
deftly plied the needles, all told of poverty, but honest 
poverty, the poverty that would toil on, suffer on, any- 
thing but beg. 

About one woman in every ten is disfigured by the 
goitre. One person told me that it was the result 
of a lack of nutritious food through many generations 
and the custom of carrying heavy burdens on the 
head and shoulders. Another person thought he had 
put the cap sheaf on when he said, "that it was 
considered a mark of great distinction by the Swiss to 
be the possessor of a well developed goitre." A de- 
formity that is an undisguised blessing is such a vara 
avis that the Swiss may, if they choose, make a virtue 
out of it. 

Having now reached the terminus of our aerial flight, 
I resume the narrative specifically in hand. The sum- 
mit of the Kulm had all the appearance of a fete day. 
Booths were erected wherever the nature of the 
surface admitted. A man with an Alpine horn six 
feet long blew a blast that awakened the echoes for 



256 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

miles around. Souvenirs of the locality, from an 
alpinestock made of native timber with a polished 
chamois horn for a crook, down to the exquisite star 
shaped " edelweiss" that is found only in these 
mountains beneath the snow, the quintessence of 
purity, an emblem fit to be worn by a vestal virgin or 
a sleeping babe, these, and all the fancy articles of 
home manufacture common to Switzerland, were pro- 
fusely displayed, and I am happy to say found favor in 
the eyes of the tourists. The view from this elevation 
is grand and inspiring. We got only a momentary 
glimpse of one of its best effects and this was about one 
o'clock, when the clouds which were beneath us parted 
and revealed a vision of loveliness such as no artist 
would attempt to portray. 

Not far from the summit is an elegant hotel to 
which we descended and did ample justice to a lunch, 
where coffee, chocolate and other decoctions were 
partaken of to keep out the fog. Then we boarded 
the car and came down to things terrestial. Once 
more on the steamer's deck we resumed our tour of 
the lake, of which the ascent of the Rigi was a part, 
and headed for Fluelen, passing the well marked spot 
where William Tell leaped from Gessler's boat and 
subsequently slew him. At Fluelen is shown the 
reputed spot, commemorated by a handsome fountain, 
where he made a centre shot at the apple on his son's 
head, and close by a colossal statue of the indomitable 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 257 

William whom history has relegated to the realms of 
romance and legendary lore, where George Wash- 
ington's little hatchet should be sent to keep Gessler's 
cap and Tell's bow and arrow company. Here we 
changed boats and returned to Lucerne arriving in a 
drenching rain, which continued to pour down all 
night long. The principal art curiosity of Lucerne is 
a dying lion twenty-eight feet long carved in the solid 
rock of a ledge back of the town, by the sculptor 
Thorswalden, to commemorate the death of 800 Swiss 
guards who fell in defense of the Tuilleries in the 
French revolution of 1793. 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 



SWITZERLAND CONTINUED. 



On Monday we took passage in a steamer for Alp- 
nock and enjoyed a couple of hours in the bright sun- 
shine, amidst scenery of surpassing loveliness. Arriv- 
ing at Alpnock we found carriages in waiting to convey 
us over Brunig Pass to Brienz, on the lake of that 
name. This was our first experience in travelling 
other than by rail or steamer. We made quite 
a procession, as there were two parties of tourists 
nearly as large as ours going the same way. The road- 
way is broad and smooth, and winds in and out and 
down and up until the summit is reached, when it is 
down, down all the way to Brienz, which is one of the 
quaintest old towns to be found anywhere. The sole 
occupation of its people seems to be wood carving, but 
were it not for the tourists this source of revenue, 
which is a " pot boiler " for many a poor artisan, would 
meet with slight encouragement, though I suppose 
much of their work goes to the toy and bric-a-brac 
shops of all lands. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 259 

I doubt if there is a pleasanter mountain ride in the 
world than the one that can be enjoyed every foot of 
the way from Alpnock to Brienz, a distance of perhaps 
thirty miles. One sees every variety of lake and 
mountain scenery, of deep dells once covered by wa- 
ter, now drained by canals cut through the barriers 
that confined them : their blue waters giving place to 
verdure and the trim cottages of the villagers. Then 
the huts of the hard}' mountaineer — who, for a liveli- 
hood, hunts the wild chamois in regions accessible to 
these two of all God's creatures alone — perched like 
bird houses high up on the mountain's rugged side, 
where a little patch cleared of stones gives haying 
ground for the irrepressible goat, who rustles around 
for himself in the summer, but when the snow king 
rides upon the storm, he seeks the shelter provided for 
him, and contentedly chews hay, weeds, and twigs, va- 
rying his diet with an occasional mess of shavings. I 
want to do justice to the goat, for in all the places I 
have visited on the continent, he is the honest poor 
man's help-meet. He is a bread winner that never, 
like the mule, goes out on a strike. 

We stopped for lunch and a change of horses in a 
curious, sleepy, hollow old town, where the waiters 
who served the table were young maidens, fancifully 
attired in the famous Bernese costume, which we found 
to be a feature of some hotels, and a trump card to 
draw custom from the bachelor ranks. 



260 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

At Brienz we crossed the lake to Giessbach, and I 
shall never, at least hardly e — that is, not soon, forget 
the gorgeous sunset scene here witnessed from the 
deck of the steamer. I might as well try to paint a 
rain drop as describe it, hence I leave it to your im- 
agination. Arrived at Griessbach we were elevated 
a distance of seven hundred feet to our hotel, which 
stands on a ledge facing the falls of Giessbach, that 
tumble down in seven cascades a distance of twelve 
hundred feet, and then rush madly on seven hundred 
feet further where the water empties into the lake, which , 
though only seven miles long and two and a quarter 
wide is the deepest in Switzerland. 

The night of our arrival the falls were illuminated 
throughout their length by Bengal lights ; the heavy 
growth of timber and thick foliage heightened the 
effect of the scene, which was illusory. It became a 
fairy picture, a dream of the lotus eater. 

From here our route led us, partly by steamer and 
partly by rail, to Interlaken, a sprightly town and a 
fashionable center located, as its name implies, be- 
tween two lakes, and overshadowed by mountains. 
The Jungfrau, which presents a broad side entirely 
covered with snow in plain sight from Interlaken, is 
one of the sights that serve as a magnet to draw tour- 
ists to this delightful summer resort. The hotels 
are numerous, and if the one we patronized is a fair 
sample, they are fully up to the requirements de- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 261 

manded of a first-class resort. It is estimated that not 
less than one hundred thousand tourists visited Swit- 
zerland the present season, and it is safe to say that 
the great majority of them paid their respects to Inter- 
laken. 

We made a carriage excursion from here to Grinden- 
wald, up the Jungfrau, a distance of about twelve 
miles, through the usual delightful Swiss scenery. 
This village lies in a valley surrounded by the snowy 
peaks of the Wetterhorn, Mettenberg and Eiger, but 
the principal attraction is two vast glaciers, seemingly 
not a great way off, which are only reached on foot or 
horseback. 

When we dismounted from our carriages at the inn, 
the courtyard was full of horses ready saddled for the 
use of tourists, and appropriated as fast as they could 
be led to the block. In the hurrying crowd I discov- 
ered the familiar face of our old fellow townsman and 
ex-mayor of Wichita, but now of New York, Mr. Sol. 
H. Kohn, who, with his charming wife and little boy, 
was making a Continental tour. There was only suf- 
ficient time for greeting, when his caravan moved off, 
and we sought the hospitable boards of the inn to refresh 
ourselves with a lunch before undergoing the fatigue 
of the perilous ascent to the ice gorge. 

After lunch we stood around waiting for horses, as 
our predecessors had appropriated the last one that 
could be got for love or money. At length when it 



262 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

seemed that we were about to be left in the lurch, my 
old friend Sol trotted into the court yard and I laid 
claim at once to his two horses and a mule. I first 
looked after the comfort of Mrs. S. and her bosom 
friend the young lady from Massachusetts, seeing 
them each mounted on their new raw-boned steeds, I 
then turned my attention to the mule, which I was to 
ride, but he was gone. Lustily I shouted for him but 
there came not back the echoes of the old chestnut, 
"here's yer mewl," and I was left to hold the bag. It 
wounded my vanity somewhat, for I thought I had 
soldiered too long to let anything get away from me, 
and especially — a mule. 

When I found that the ladies had ignored my com- 
panionship, and without even a friendly " ta, ta," gone 
ahead without me, I felt humiliated — decidedly 
snubbed. But in the course of time when another 
horse trotted into the yard, and I found myself on his 
back ; my crushed spirits rebounded as I urged the 
beast on to his utmost speed, never dreaming but that 
I should overtake them and see to their welfare in 
making the ascent. Vain hope! They were out of 
sight before I reached the spot where the paths forked. 
They had gone one direction and my guide insisted on 
leading me in the other. They had gone. Their 
path led to the upper glacier, mine to the lower one 
and the least remote. The path I was traversing led 
up a declivity that was extremely perilous to both 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 263 

horse and rider, but we got there all the same, and 
leaving my Pegasus in charge of the overseer, I went 
forward a short distance and beheld for the first time 
at close range an Alpine glacier. 

I once thought that every patch of snow left on the 
mountain peaks by the midsummer sun was a glacier. 
I know better now. A glacier is a mass of solid ice 
formed only in the gorges and clefts by the snow fall 
of winter ; crystalized by the flow of water from the 
melting snows above. I had no curiosity to explore 
this glacier any farther than to enter a grotto cut deep 
into the heart of the frozen torrent, preceded by two 
mountain S}a'ens, who had laid in wait for me that 
they might yodel a franc from my pocket into theirs. 
It is barely possible that their warbling would have 
sounded well even in a music hall, but in an ice cham- 
ber, where the temperature chilled to the marrow, the 
song of the syren had no charm for me. I parted 
with the franc and fled. 

Long after the Cook party (but few of whom suc- 
ceeded in getting to the glaciers) had left Grindenwald, 
on the return to Interlaken, the Doctor and I paced 
the court yard of the inn, impatiently waiting the 
return of the venturesome pair who had struck out 
alone. I conjured up all the manner of mishaps that 
might have befallen them, and if I had been a cussing 
man would no doubt have anathemized the man that 
got away with my mule, but it is a long story that has 



264 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

no ending, so in course of time my suspense was 
relieved, as half dead from fatigue the truants put in 
an appearance. They had a big story fixed up to 
mollify me, which, of course, I swallowed without 
straining a muscle. 

In the gloaming we reached Interlaken, and after 
doing justice to an elaborate dinner, attended an open 
air concert held in the garden fronting the hotel, in 
which the native Swiss warbled their roundelays until 
all were charmed. 

As for me, at a late hour I retired to rest, and was 

soon in dreamland ; climbing over icy barriers in 

search of a stray mule, while the syrens of the grotto, 

shouted after me a melange of sounds something like 

this : 

"Jung frau, 
Old frau, 
Whose frau ? 
Wetterhorn, 
AVet-a-horn, 
Wet whose horn." 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



SWITZERLAND CONTINUED. 



\Ve left Interlaken for Berne, the capital of the lit- 
tle republic, which has nothing to commend it to the 
tourist, either in the way of scenery or the works of 
art. The shops are poor, but the hotels, judging by 
the one at which we were domiciled, very good. It is 
true, one has a view of the distant mountains named 
in a preceding chapter ; but when a person has been 
to the top of Pike's Peak, it loses interest viewed 
twenty or thirty miles away. So with the Jungfrau 
and other peaks of the Alps. The " distance that 
lends enchantment to the view " is a fraud in both in- 
stances. 

The hibernating animal known as the bear is held 
in very high esteem here ; so much so, that as an em- 
blem of Bernese loyalty and local pride, he eclipses 
the " bird of liberty " in our own patriotic land. To 
bear out this assertion, there is a bear pit maintained 
at the public expense. In one of the public squares is 
an equestrian statue, with four large bronze bears 
guarding it at each corner. Go which way you will, 



266 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

regardless of your bearings, and you either see a 
statue where the bear figures prominently, or a wood 
cut or painting of bruin, or something to remind you 
that 4 if these people were idolaters they would worship 
a bear. The wood carvings in the shop windows bear 
a very close resemblance to a bear. In fact, there are 
bears, of all conceivable designs, and are the only sou- 
venir of the capital city that the tourist bears away 
with him. 

Leaving Berne without regret, we traveled by rail to 
Lausanne, thence a short distance by omnibus to Ouchy, 
a superb watering place on the shore of Lake Lehman, 
thence by steamer up the lake, past the noted fortress 
of Chillon, immortalized by Byron, and Yevay, to 
Villeneuve, where we again boarded the train, chang- 
ing cars at Martigny for Vernayaz, where we spent the 
night. Before breakfast, the next morning, we sallied 
out to visit the much talked of Gorge-du-Trient, some- 
thing like the Koyal Gorge of the Arkansas in Colo- 
rado, only much more contracted, and scarcely as im- 
pressive. After breakfast, we found the open space in 
front of the hotel filled with one-horse vehicles, some- 
thing of the nature of a buckboard, to transport us 
over the Tete Noire Pass to Chamounix. 

As I am somewhat partial to mules, I selected the 
only one in the outfit, a great stout fellow, who never 
once on that long, tedious trip which consumed the 
whole day, gave me any provocation for regretting the 



FROM X1LE TO NILE. 2(>7 

wisdom of my choice. His driver was a Savoyard 
with all the daring qualities of a Hank Monk, supple- 
mented by the politeness of a Frenchman and the 
acuteness of a down east Yankee. Observing my 
Grand Army badge when I unbuttoned my coat he 
took me for some knight of high degree, and the sa- 
laams he made me from time to time as he walked 
up the steep mountain side, ever and anon looking 
back at me, were worthy of the homage paid to an 
eastern potentate. 

We occupied a position in the middle of the caravan, 
but my driver was of that heroic type that leads but 
never follows. On entering a town just before com-i 
mencing the ascent of the mountain pass he fell out 
of the procession, steered his mule into a by street and 
then laid on the whip. I could not divine his purpose 
at first, but whispered to my wife that he was making 
tracks for a wine shop and didn't want the conductor 
to know it, but when we flew by without stopping at 
any of these and came out on the main road at the 
head of the outfit, I saw that it was strategy, " strategy, 
my boy! " 

After this until the main summit of the first moun- 
tain was attained he trusted the mule to me and took 
short cuts up the by-paths, putting in an appearance 
from time to time, ostensibly for the purpose of seeing 
if the mule was " blowed," but in reality to take off 
his hat and salute me. That mule was worthy of such 



268 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

a master. That master was worthy of such a mule. 
The road was the steepest we traversed iu Switzerland, 
but that mule never turned a hair. He outwalked 
anything that wore harness, and as a reward we pulled 
him up under the shade of a tree, for it was an ex- 
tremely hot day, and gave him a rest every few min- 
utes until the nearest vehicle had caught up. This 
afforded us a decided comfort and rest denied to the 
others, for it was a steady pull from bottom to top for 
their jaded horses, and as a consequence their passen- 
gers had to sweat it out under an umbrella. 

Now that driver knew on which side his bread was 
buttered. He couldn't speak a word of English, and 
my French was all Greek, Latin and Hebrew to him, 
but he knew by intuition that when he got to the end 
of the route he would reap his reward. Yea, verily. 

When well down the reverse side of the mountain, 
we halted an hour and a half for lunch — the name of 
the place, if I ever knew it, has escaped my mind; 
no matter, it deserves mention in this connection, for 
it is one of the lovely spots of earth, not lovely in a 
tame sense, as a flower garden might be, but in a sense 
of grandeur, blended with the picturesque and sub- 
dued by the trespassing hand of man. Cut close to 
the mountain side was the roadway, with barely room 
sufficient to plant a hotel and a few straggling cottages. 
Attached to the hotel, but sloping away from it, was a 
well kept garden and beyond the garden wall the jump- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 269 

ing off place. Here, reclining on the verge of the 
precipice beneath the shade of a friendly tree, four 
tourists took in the situation with that calm content- 
edness that goes with a frame recovering from partial 
exhaustion, an appetite appeased, and a conscience void 
of all offense. There was just magic enough in the 
surroundings to make one feel that all there was of 
life lay in the present. Before us snow capped senti- 
nels peeped over the intervening ledges of somber 
rock, from whence leaped twin cascades which met 
their doom in the depths below, where huge boulders 
in the bed of a roaring torrent churned their com- 
mingled waters into foam. 

A cavern's yawning mouth, to which rude steps con- 
ducted downwards, was suggestive of the robbers' 
roost, whilst an isolated rock, moss covered, and in 
whose fissures an Alpine cedar had taken root and 
flourished, was equally suggestive of some pre-historic 
altar. The mountain berries showed up seductively 
— in a basket — and wild flowers of the sweetest per- 
fume and most delicate tints were visible wherever the 
scant soil afforded an abiding place. 

The hour in elysium having expired, the faithful old 
mule is again harnessed to — what shall I call it ? Ve- 
hicle is too indefinite and knocks all the poetry out of 
the situation. It is low wheeled, has a " rubber " that 
works with a crank, contains two seats and a place be- 
hind for luggage, and the springs are a misnomer. A 



270 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

man or woman with a weak back would as soon be in 
purgatory, metaphorically speaking, as doomed to ride 
in them. But they are one of the institutions of the 
country, and it takes ages to root up either an institu- 
tion or a custom in Europe, as all Americans have 
found to their sorrow. Witness, for instance, the table 
d'hote bill of fare. Poulet, otherwise chicken, and 
saladi, alias lettuce, are just as certain to be placed be- 
fore you in every hotel in Europe, as that you will be 
charged extra for a cup of coffee. This is one of the 
customs of the country, and no matter how much you 
loath the very sight of them you find it incumbent 
upon you either to dally with them and slight your 
stomach, or, like Grirofle heroically say, " down it 
goes," and answer the consequences of a disgusted ap- 
petite. 

But the " vehicle !" there's the rub. On reflection, I 
have decided that so far as these pages are concerned 
it shall be nameless. Suffice it to say that we endured 
torture over a villainous road for ten or twelve miles, 
then we struck a broad, smooth pike, where the bruises 
were forgotten and the wrinkles disappeared, as the 
tall peaks of Mont Blanc loomed up against the sky 
and signaled to us that we were near our journey's end. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



SWITZERLAND CONTINUED. 



We had now crossed the frontier into France, and 
the scenery through the vale of Chamounix was all that 
our fancy had painted it. The peaceful valley which 
industry and thrift have rendered productive lay smil- 
ing in the red rays of the declining sun. A milk y 
stream ran with race horse speed down the valley on 
our right, and rugged mountains barred all labors of 
husbandmen in that direction. To our left was the 
vast ice gorge of the Mer de Glace, and the continua- 
tion of the snowy range that culminates a little farther 
along in Mont Blanc proper, that forms the dividing 
line between France and Italy, and towers up to the 
height of fifteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty -one 
feet, covered with perpetual snow from the foothills to 
its summit. 

Our entrance into Chamounix was somewhat on the 
grotesque order. The drivers whom my irrepressible 
Jehu had so skillfull} 7 circumvented in the morning, 
boiling over with suppressed rage, determined to get 
even with him, and so when they were within a mile 



272 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of our destination they fell in behind a diligence that 
was diligently making about eight miles an hour on 
the down grade. Of course we had to give them the 
road or be snowed under. One of the vehicles suc- 
ceeded in getting abreast of us, when it was neck and 
neck for awhile. Fearing a collision, I laid my 
strong right arm on our Jehu and made him curb the 
mule. This had the effect of letting the other driver 
ahead, with us a close second, and the balance of the 
outfit holding their own. Thus we dashed into town, 
through the crowded streets, to the evident wonder- 
ment of everybody. I fancy some of the country folk 
thought it was part of the show, though not set down 
in the bills, for the next day (Sunday) was the centen- 
nial celebration of the first ascent of Mont Blanc by 
De Saussure in 1777, and the whole country for miles 
around had assembled to do honor to the occasion. 

We found the hotels crowded to their utmost, but as 
quarters had been engaged in advance we were saved 
the inconvenience of camping out. I have never seen 
any place so profusely decorated as this picturesque 
little city of the Savoys at the foot of Mont Blanc. 
The great event had been well, advertised, and the 
United States of America took a front seat. Aside 
from the tri-colors of France the flag of no other na- 
tion was so conspicuous. It made us feel at home and 
as if it were a part of our celebration. There were 
Americans here in sufficient numbers to demonstrate 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 273 

to the people that the precedence they had given the 
stars and stripes over the union jack of the present 
mistress of the seas was a compliment duly appre- 
ciated. 

The bands played almost incessantly, and all night 
long crowds of young fellows who evidently were 
celebrating with a " stick in theirn," patrolled the 
streets singing in the wildest discord the Marseillaise 
hymn, which, taken in connection with the medley of 
voices on the sidewalks that never ceased, and the 
hoarse, soul harrowing notes of the bass horn plead- 
ing for more beer, destroyed that repose, which tired 
nature only grants under more favorable auspices. 
However, we worried through the night and at the 
appointed time set out for the grand stand in front of 
which a superb statue of DeSaussure was to be 
unveiled with great ceremony. An orator of some 
celebrity had been brought expressly from Paris, and 
lesser local lights were to indulge in nights of oratory, 
but as they were delivered in French you will pardon 
me for any absence of comments in these pages. 

One of the most striking objects to be seen was a 
group assembled around the statue, of old guides of 
Mont Blanc, now on the retired list, but dressed in 
the costume and provided with the implements used 
by them in their perilous occupation. 

My fancy painted a similar picture that might be 
realized years hence, when the last remnant of the 

18 



274 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

men who put down the rebellion might assemble 
around the veiled statue of some loved chieftain — 
Logan for instance, wearing the old army blouse, the 
grey shoddy blanket, the despised forage cap, the cross 
belt and waist belt with forty rounds that made the 
hips blue, the odorous haversack, the deceptive canteen 
with " commissary " or water as the case might be, the 
old Springfield musket with the rust of many decades 
on its once burnished barrel, then the old veteran him- 
self, rusted out and useless as the old gun — a fit 
companion piece to adorn the walls of a sanctuary 
sacred to the memories of the brave. 

All through Sunday the festivities were kept up, in- 
cluding a banquet to the guides. In the evening there 
were fire works and an illumination, and such an illu- 
mination as none who witnessed it will ever forget. 
The Judge and I had taken a walk in the gloaming, in 
the direction of one of the glaciers, to settle our din- 
ners and commune with nature. The moon was veiled 
by a dark cloud that hung over the snowy crest of 
Mont Blanc, the festive cannons of Chamounix were 
awakening the echoes of the narrow valley, the music 
of the bands in the distance sounded as sweetly as the 
voices of a midnight serenade, the long strings of Chi- 
nese lanterns, the candles and jets that illuminated 
both houses and foliage, were magical in their effects, 
but when the beacon lights of r'esinous wood came out, 
one by one, far up the mountain sides, in front and 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 2/0 

rear of the gala city, it electrified us, and we felt like 
calling all the people together and, in the name of 
Grover Cleveland, both houses of Congress, and the 
Woman's Relief Corps, tender them a unanimous vote 
of thanks. After returning to the hotel and securing 
a balcony all to ourselves and friends, we witnessed 
the display of fireworks, which was gorgeous, and 
stinted neither in quality, quantity, nor design. Sleep 
was out of the question that night, for the same condi- 
tions prevailed as on the night previous. 

Some of our party, in the course of the day, had 
hired guides and mules to make the ascent of the Mer 
de Glace. I fancy the " conditions" had nothing to do 
with preventing them from wooing successfully the 
drowsy god. We made no effort to go up Mont 
Blanc ; it was too big an undertaking for the time al- 
lotted to us at the never to be forgotten summer resort. 

The next morning we ''broke camp " early for a 
long ride overland to Geneva. All the diligences had 
been taken in advance, so that we were denied the sat- 
isfaction of testing the comforts of their excellence, but 
three and four-seated hacks were placed at our dispo- 
sal and the party, with one exception, had no cause to 
grumble at the accommodation. The exception was 
your humble servant, w T ho tarried in the hotel just one 
minute too long, for, when I arrived in the court yard, 
ever}' seat was taken but one, and into that one I at- 
tempted to squeeze, but all in vain. The seat was in- 



276 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tended to accommodate four persons. It was occupied 
by two ladies and a Frenchman. The Frenchman, I 
think, was Fritz Snitzler's brother. He covered all his 
seat and two-thirds of mine, and he wouldn't give an 
inch. Rather than discommode the ladies, I declared 
my seat vacant and rode for five mortal hours on the 
whiffletrees — at least the Judge accused me of it. But 
there is no sacrifice without some recompense, and as 
I posed in the attitude of a martyr, with a pain in my 
" chist " and a dull ache through my back, by reason 
of my unenviable position at the horses' tails, the 
cockles of my heart were being warmed by the commis- 
eration I knew I was exciting among the fair sex. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



GENEVA. 



Well the ride was a pleasant one notwithstanding 
the episode mentioned. He of the Daniel Lambert 
proportions, not being a through passenger left us at a 
way station, and enabled me to secure a seat for the 
remainder of the journey, more in keeping with the 
dignity of a member of the Cook party. 

We accomplished fully sixty miles this day, and as 
it was the last ride of this description that our party 
would ever take together, we one and all abandoned 
ourselves to its full enjoyment; but fatigue will tell 
on the spirits of a party and ours were down to zero 
when the long caravan of overloaded coaches with 
their hungry, tired, aud dusty loads of tourists rolled 
into the city of European Yankees and sought refuge 
at that model hotel — the Metropole. 

Geneva is one of those places that a stranger falls 
in love with, and would just as lief tarry in it and end 
his days in quiet contentment, as to return to the 
bustle and activity, the cares, and the ups and downs 



278 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

that may await him at home, in a far distant land. 
That was the way it struck me. 

There is one thing I like about the people of 
Geneva. They think their city is the best in the 
world and the only desirable place on earth to live. 
Get that sentiment once grounded in the minds of the 
denizens of a city, and its future is assured. 

Geneva is situated at the southwestern extremity of 
lake Geneva — or lake Lehman as it is called by the 
French. Strange as it may seem, in the little republic 
of Switzerland no less than three languages form the 
dialect of her people — according to locality. In the 
territory bordering on France, and including Geneva, 
French is spoken almost exclusively, in the east the 
German, and in the south the Italian prevails. 

The outlet of lake Lehman is the river Rhone, a 
rapid stream that courses through the city furnishing 
motive power for all the industries that contribute so 
immeasurably to the wealth and importance of the 
wide-awake, well built, chief commercial city of the 
Swiss. 

Watch making is the principal occupation in and 
about Geneva, but the town is likewise headquarters for 
musical instruments of the music-box order, and 
carving in wood is pursued with all the skill and 
avidity which the howling of the wolf at the door 
sometimes inspires. 



FROM NILE TO XILE. 279 

It is also entitled to the distinction of being the 
cheapest market for seal skin goods to be found abroad. 
Americans are favorite customers, and whether one's 
bank account is written in black or red ink, it makes 
no difference if it is fathered by an American. It pays 
to have a good name, and to be known here as an 
American, without farther recommendation, is a pass- 
port to unlimited credit. However, I would not ad- 
vise anyone to grasp more than he can safely get away 
with — for spot cash. Here we were left to our own 
devices, the itinerary of Messrs. Cook & Son being 
silent as to the attractions of Geneva, as they were of 
Genoa, through which place we were strangely hurried, 
forced to be content only with what we could see 
from the train in passing. But " it is a cold day when 
we get left," so the combination that worked so har- 
moniously all through the waking hours of this six 
weeks' journey engaged the services of a cab driver 
to be shown the sights. We visited the house 
which was at one time the abode of John Calvin, 
and from thence were driven to the old cathedral, 
wrested from the Catholics, where the great apostle 
of predestination occupied the pulpit and dissemina- 
ted a doctrine which, if infallible, makes the " father- 
hood of God " and the " brotherhood of man " mere 
catchwords. 

In the course of our drive we reached the cemetery 
where it is claimed Calvin was buried. We paid a 



280 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

franc to be conducted to the tomb of the founder of 
the great Presbyterian church. But, alas! Calvin's 
tomb like that of the equally stern and uncompro- 
mising Cromwell, was non est. A simple white stone, 
less than a foot square, carved with the initials J. C, 
was all the guide had to show, and on pinning him 
down to a solemn assurance that this stone marked 
the identical spot where his remains had been laid 
away, he was forced to admit that he had only the 
stereotyped " they say " for his authority. 

John Calvin was born in France and moved to 
Geneva in 1536. His ministration covered a period of 
twenty-eight years. He died here in 1564 at the age 
of fifty-five. 

From this city, whose shops, buildings, beautiful 
wide streets and parks, and extensive frontage on 
the great azure lake of Switzerland, rendering it about 
as attractive in these respects as any minor city of the 
old world, we parted with reluctantly, and journeyed 
direct to Paris, passing through the great silk manu- 
facturing city of Lyons. 

French landscape is proverbial for its beauty, but I 
want to go on record here and now, as asserting that 
neither the domain of England. nor of France presents 
features more attractive to the eye, than can be seen 
in our own broad prairies, from Oswego to Anthony, 
or from Emporia to Garden City. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 281 

The long hours of that uneventful ride to the gay 
capital of France seemed of interminable length, as 
night closed in, and the feeble light of the solitary 
lamp in each compartment rendered it impracticable 
to while away the hours either in the indulgence of 
novel reading or the absorbing pastime of whist. 

I had a good deal of sympathy for the ladies of the 
party, who were completely wearied out long before 
we reached the suburbs of Paris, and had become 
totally indifferent to whether their bangs fell over 
their foreheads or the back of the neck. 

It was quite a relief to me, being wakeful, when our 
train reached its destination, for my sides ached with 
long continued and suppressed laughter at the gro- 
tesque figures they cut " bobbing for eels,'- in the ver- 
nacular of the West, and unconsciously reposing their 
heads, or feet as the case might be, on the person of 
one of my distinguished fellow travelers, and the look 
of consternation depicted on each tired, woe-begone 
countenance when a waking moment discovered to them 
what I only had witnessed, I, who was feigning sleep, 
but dying to get out some place where I could roll and 
relieve the pressure. 

By the time we had worked our way through the 
custom house and taken coach for the Grand Hotel it 
was long past midnight, so that in retiring we said 
both " good night " and " good morning.' * 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



PARIS. 



The great majority of American travelers, in fact, I 
might say about all, gravitate to Paris as naturally as 
a duck takes to water. With many, London is only a 
way station where one can make choice of the differ- 
ent routes that lead to the head center of fashion — a 
more important question than appears on the surface, 
when one realizes all the perils and discomforts inci- 
dent to a passage across the English Channel. 

The ladies of our party were particularly impatient 
to get to Paris. I do not know how many of them, in 
the innocence of their hearts, and ignorance of " how 
we do things in Paris," intended to visit Worth's es- 
tablishment and interview the great designer as to the 
fashions that were to be " all the rage" the coming 
winter. I am betraying no confidence when I say 
that not a soul of them ever came within a rod of the 
effulgent rays of his smiling countenance. The Bon 
Marche or the Louvre was rich enough for the blood 
of this party of Americans. Interview Worth ? yes, 
if money is no object; interview him by all means, 



FROM NILE TO XI LK. 283 

have him prescribe for you a raiment equivalent in 
value to a corner lot in the Peerless Princess, such a 
raiment, in fact, as a London modiste will render satis- 
factory to you for one third the cost of a Worth dress. 
" What's in a name? " the immortal poet interrogates. 
I answer that in Worth's name there is over two hun- 
dred per cent. 

We were to devote three days, out of the five allotted 
to us, to sight seeing under the guidance of that accom- 
plished, though verbose, prince of guides, Mons. 
Cooper. To do Paris in three days, or four at most, 
requires a strict attention to business : with a rustler 
like Cooper in command, all that is worth seeing in 
Paris can easily be accomplished in that time. 

Our starting point was the Grand Hotel, which 
occupies an entire square in the central part of the 
city. Across the street north from the Jiotel stands 
the Grand Opera House, the finest in the world, built 
by Louis Napoleon at an enormous expense, and now 
owned by the government. Some idea of its vast 
proportions may be gained when one considers that 
four hundred houses were torn down to make room 
for the site it occupies. 

In the opposite direction and less than five minutes 
walk from our starting point, is the Madeline, or 
church of St. Mary Magdalene. It is after the Greek 
style of architecture and the heavy Corinthian 
columns in front give it quite an imposing appearance. 



284 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Though the foundations were laid in 1764 it was com- 
pleted only in 1842. It cost $2,500,000. In the late 
civil war it was barricaded by the communists, and 
as a grand finale to that fearful drama, 300 insurgents 
were shot to death on its colonnade, having taken 
refuge in the sanctuary they had desecrated, only to 
meet the doom that summarily awaited them. 

The Place de la Concorde is nearly due south from 
here. It is a beautiful square, containing an obelisk* 
— the mate to Cleopatra's Needle that stands in Central 
Park, New York — and eight statues representing a like 
number of the principal cities in France. It has a 
tragic history which renders it doubly interesting. 

The Hotel des Invalides is also on the south side of 
the Seine and a little ways east from the Champ de 
Mars. It is a hospital for decayed veterans, erected 
in 1670 and covers an area of thirty-one acres. A 
large number of cannon, imperishable trophies, cap- 
tured on many an ensanguined field, occupies a portion 
of the square. Standing on the tower of the 
Trocadero one sees a vast gilded dome which the 
guide points out as the church of the Invalides be- 
longing, and which might be said to be a part of the 
hospital or Hotel des Invalides. Beneath this dome 
rest the remains .of the great Napoleon. No more 
fitting place in all France could be found for the tomb 
of the illustrious little man who combined in his person- 
ality all the elements of a scholar, statesman, ruler 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 285 

and warrior in far greater degree perhaps than 
impartial history accords to any of the great men who 
preceded or have followed him. As I leaned over 
the circular balustrade and gazed downward into the 
crypt on the beautiful sarcophagus that contains his 
ashes, I thought of the lines from Gray : 

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave 

Await alike the inevitable hour, 
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. 

There was a clause in Napoleon's will in these words : 
" I desire that my ashes rest on the banks of the Seine 
in the midst of the French people, whom I have so 
loved." The French nation, if fickle to him in 
adversity, have not been lacking in devotion to his 
memory, as the elegance of this mausoleum attests. 
Jerome Bonaparte is buried in a chapel to the right of 
the entrance, and Joseph, his other brother, to the 
left. There are still two vacant chapels, which our 
guide, who was an ardent monarchist, sententiously 
informed us were being held in reserve for the remains 
of Louis Napoleon and his son, the Prince, who both 
sleep on British soil. 

In 1770 twelve hundred persons were crushed to 
death and two thousand maimed in a panic that oc- 
curred without any cause on the occasion of a display 
of fireworks given in honor of the marriage of the 
Dauphin. In 1793, when the reign of terror was at its 
climax, over two thousand persons, including Louis 



286 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

XVI. and Marie Antoinette, suffered decapitation by 
the guillotine. The instrument that performed this 
bloody work is the same one described in a former 
chapter, exhibited in the Chamber of Horrors at Mad- 
ame Tussaud's in London. Thrice has this square 
been the camping ground for invading armies, the last 
to occupy it being the Prussians in 1871. 

The Palace of the Elysee is a little west of this, and 
at the present time is the official residence of Presi- 
dent Grevy. Wellington made it his habitation after 
Waterloo, and Kaiser Wilhelm stopped beneath its 
roof for three days when France lay bound at his feet, 
and the crowned heads of many nations have been 
sheltered beneath its roof. It was originally built for 
the residence of the notorious Madame Pompadour. 

The Champs Elysees is a broad, straight avenue 
leading westward from the Place de la Concord to the 
Arc de Triomphe. This is the finest promenade and 
driveway in Paris. At night, when the myriad of gas 
jets are lighted and the cafes are doing a land office 
business, it presents a sight not to be found in other 
cities. 

The Arc de Triomphe owes its paternity to Napo- 
leon I., who commenced it in 1806 when he was in the 
arch business. Owing the stress of circumstances 
which seemed to have a baleful effect on all his enter- 
prises of this character, he failed to complete it. The 
work was resumed by Louis Pnilippe, and finished in 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 287 

1836. It is considered the grandest arch in the world, 
and well it may be, for it cost two millions of dollars. 
It is one hundred and sixty feet high, one hundred 
and forty-six broad, and seventy feet deep. No less 
than twelve fine avenues, laid out by Baron Hauss- 
man, by direction of Louis Napoleon, radiate from it. 
It is embellished with statues in high relief commem- 
orating the victories of Napoleon. The Communists 
elevated heavy guns, by steam power, to the top of it, 
and were enabled, by the decided advantage it gave 
them, to hurl destruction into the ranks of the Im- 
perialists. 

The Trocadero Palace and Gardens are nearly south 
from the arch, and owe their existence to the exhibi- 
tion of 1878. We ascended one of the towers in a 
huge elevator that has capacity for conveying forty- 
two persons at one time to the top. From here one 
gets the finest view to be obtained in Paris. The gar- 
den contains beautiful fountains and handsome shade 
trees, besides other ornamentations. 

The Champ de Mars lies south, across the river Seine. 
I will only name it as the spot selected for holding the 
exhibition in 1889, an event which will flood Paris 
with Americans. Preparations are already under 
good headway, which point to the importance attached 
to it by the Parisians. Many of the buildings, con- 
structed of iron, are nearing completion, and the mon- 
ument of the greatness which is to stand forever and 



288 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

be without a rival, is already assuming vast propor- 
tions. It is being constructed solely of iron, and will 
tower up nine hundred feet. An elevator run by 
steam, will convey visitors to the top. When it is 
necessary to put on ascension robes there will be no 
longer any use to flee to the mountains. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



PARIS CONTINUED. 



In most of the large cities of the Continent special 
accommodations have been provided for tourists in the 
matter of conveyances from one object of interest to 
another. A huge wagon, as long and broad as a hay 
rack, with five seats and a canop} r top, afforded ample 
accommodation for our entire party of twenty-five, in- 
cluding the guide. It was a heavy, lumbering vehicle, 
drawn by four horses, and which, on more than one 
portion of the route, disputed the right of way with 
other conveyances. In one street of less than the 
usual width Ave collided with a gentleman's carriage, 
and greatly disfigured it. Complaint was at once made 
to the police, and before the cocker had driven a rod, 
he was arrested, and we were left three miles from our 
hotel without a driver and surrounded b}^ a crowd of 
curious and somewhat excited Frenchmen. At length, 
however, the voluble Cooper, after much talking, 
shrugging of shoulders, and other characteristic 
contortions, succeeded in getting the officers to relax 
their hold of our Jehu, and he was permitted to drive 

19 



290 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

us to our destination, but the next morning a different 
Johnny Crapaud held the ribbons. 

This adventure was not quite as exciting as one that 
took place in Rome, in which the Judge and I were 
equally as much concerned, and which came near re- 
sulting in both of us appearing as witnesses in the po- 
lice court. 

It was our first afternoon in Rome ; and, as we had 
two hours to spare before dinner, we thought we would 
steal a march on the remainder of the party, who were 
not much inclined to stir. So we took a road car (sim- 
ilar to a tram car, but requiring no track) and rode as 
far as the Forum of Trajan. Having wandered 
around in this neighborhood for an hour or more, 
without a guide, and met no one who could give 
us any information, we hailed the first car return- 
ing that came along. It happened to be crowded, 
so we stood on the rear platform, hence were wit- 
nesses to the performances of an inebriated dray- 
man and his companion, a mere boy. They were seated 
in a cart heavily loaded with brick, and the poor horse 
they drove had evidently fallen into cruel hands. At 
some point on the road, the car had passed them, and 
this seemed to excite their ire. They seemed de- 
termined to regain the position they had lost, and be- 
labored their poor beast unmercifully. At the turn of 
a narrow street they attempted to pass us, and in do- 
ing so, collided with a brick wall, tore off a wheel, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 291 

tipped over the cart, spilled out both individuals, and 
the brick, and killed the horse. The driver seemed 
dazed for an instant, then picked himself up, and with 
all the speed he could muster started to head off the 
driver of our car. He soon came up with him, and 
fiercely attacked him with the whip he held in his 
hand. Two or three gens-darmes, by this time, forced 
their way on the platform and, instead of arresting the 
culprit, let him go and insisted on taking our driver. 
While a terrible war of words was going on between 
the gendarme and the conductor a fearful mob was 
gathering in our rear, incited by the cart-driver. The 
entire rabble of Rome seemed to be let loose on us all 
at once, but the conductor was game, and shouted to 
the driver a magical word, that had the immediate ef- 
fect of putting the horses on the dead run, which, in a 
brief space of time, bore us out of the reach of the 
threatened danger. The conductor, who spoke English , 
insisted on our appearing the next morning at the po- 
lice court as witnesses on his behalf, but we had busi- 
ness in Naples about that time, and told him we would 
see him later. 

One great advantage the road wagon possessed was 
that the lecturer, or guide, always had his audience 
under his eye, and within sound of his voice, so that 
in passing objects of interest, like the Column Yen- 
dome, Column de Juillet, or house of Voltaire, he could 
direct the attention of the entire party to it, and 



292 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

thereby consume no time, whereas, if the party had 
been in carriages, the loss of time in waiting until each 
vehicle arrived on the ground would have been some- 
thing serious. 

But to resume the thread of a narrative, that for 
obvious reasons must partake of the nature of a guide- 
book, we now recross the Seine on a bridge constructed 
of stones of the old Bastile after it was demolished 
by the revolutionists in 1789. In the dark pages of 
history the Bastile takes rank with the Spanish 
Inquisition, the reign of the Doges of Venice, and 
the inhuman banishment of "suspects" to Siberia. 

Here during four centuries in the dark and noisome 
dungeons of this fortress, that was deemed impreg- 
nable, men and women suspected of disloyalty to 
state were immured and doomed to a lingering death, 
as fiendish in conception and malevolent in execution 
as General Wallace portrays in the imprisonment of 
the mother and sister of Ben Hur. 

A saying is common in Paris regarding the bridge 
Pont Neuf that spans the Seine, that one nmy cross it 
any hour in the day and meet either a priest, a soldier 
or a gray horse. 

Our first halting place on this drive was at the 
Garden of the Tuileries, so called by reason of the 
ground which it occupies being once a tilery where 
tiles for roofing were made. In this garden stood the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 293 

Palace of the Tuileries, but it was an offense to the 
Commune and they distroyed it. 

Close by is the Palace Royal. It was built by 
Cardinal Richelieu in 1829 and subsequently fell into the 
hands of Louis XIV., who presented it to his younger 
brother. By fast living the heir ran through with his 
patrimony, and to save himself converted it into shops. 
There are fine arcades here where no less than one 
hundred and twenty-eight jewelry establishments 
manage to exist. 

Tourist are generally taken in the afternoon drive 
to the cemetery of Pere la Chaise, which is considered 
one of the great attractions of Paris. This city of the 
dead dates from 1804 and contains one hundred and 
ten acres. There are upwards of eighteen thousand 
monuments here, and one who cares to cultivate a 
taste for grave-yard statuary and tombs of unique 
design, can be here gratified to his heart's content. 
The Jewish cemetery is included in this, but is 
separated by a low wall which the Jews are forbidden 
to pass. 

Many noted persons are buried here, amongst the 
number ex-President Thiers. In the Jewish portion 
is the tomb of Rachel, the queen of tragedy. The 
tomb of Thiers, not entirely completed, is but little 
less magnificent than that of Napoleon. The crypt 
is of similar design, and the building which contains it 
of such large proportions, that one on first sight 



294 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

mistakes it for a chapel. It reflects great credit on the 
Thiers family, who of their own means, and not at the 
expense of the government, have erected a mauso- 
leum grander than was ever recorded to a simple 
republican president here or elsewhere. 

Probably the most attractive spot in this cemetery is 
the tomb of Abelard and Heloise. The story of their 
attachment and subsequent sorrows, has been related so 
often, as to destroy all temptation to spread it on these 
pages. Suffice it to say that the romantic youth of Paris 
follow in the footsteps of their parents and keep up 
the annual custom of making a pilgrimage to the tomb, 
bedewing it with tears and scattering about it the 
flowers of spring. 

Every one has heard of the morgue of Paris, and 
doubtless associated with it in their minds the horrible 
sight of the unclaimed dead who reach their latter end 
by foul play, suicide or accident. I confess to a sinking 
about the regions of the heart when I ascended the 
steps that lead to the vestibule, where one can stand 
and gaze through the closed windows, jostled by the 
ever present crowd looking at the corpses, not in a 
winding sheet laid away in a coffin, but stretched in a 
reclining chair in everyday clothes, their features as 
natural as their manner of taking off and the ingenuity 
of their attendants could render possible. If not 
identified within eight days, the bodies of these luckless 
creatures are buried or otherwise disposed of. Three 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 295 

bodies, two of them men, was the ghastly sight that 
met my eyes, and I cared not to tarry looking for the 
fourth one. 

We paid our respects to a number of churches, nota- 
bly the cathedral of Notre Dame, the Pantheon, St. 
Roch, and St. Sulpice. The former dates from 1163. 
It has suffered much from the insurgents during the 
revolutions to which Paris has 'been subject. The 
stained glass windows are very beautiful and the 
wood carvings and statuary fully up to the orthodox 
designs found in nearly all the larger Catholic churches. 
For a franc one can obtain a glimpse of the sacred 
relics kept in the treasury. They consist of fragments 
of the crown of thorns and of the true cross, a nail 
from the same, and some silver busts of long departed 
saints. 

Cooper was the only guide, excepting always Pro- 
fessor Forbes, who made no effort to paralyze us, when 
the time came to speak of these sacred relics. On the 
contrary he showed a disposition to ignore them en- 
tirely, and when some one insisted on seeing " that 
piece of the true cross," he significantly laid his finger 
on one side of his nose and, addressing me in particu- 
lar, said : "If all the pieces of the true cross held as 
sacred relics, here and elsewhere, were got together 
and placed end to end, they would make stringers for 
a bridge that would reach across the Seine — and don't 
forget it. r 



296 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The Pantheon dates from 1764. It has a fine portico 
of twenty -two Corinthian columns, eighty-one feet 
high. We descended to the crypt and viewed the 
tombs of Voltaire and other noted men. The remains 
of Victor Hugo, in a coffin not yet sealed in its final 
place of deposit, occupies a cell here. It is surprising, 
the number of people that clamor for admittance to 
see all that remains of the author of " Notre Dame," 
and " Les Miserables." In the aisles above are cart 
loads of wreaths and immortelles, banners, etc., that 
were carried in his funeral procession when fifty thou- 
sand people followed his remains hither. About two 
years ago the Pantheon was secularized and nearly all 
traces of worship removed. It was on the steps of 
this edifice that Milliere, one of the leaders of the 
Commune, was killed in 1871. 

On Sunday, some members of the party attended 
services at the Madeline, while others of us tramped a 
longer distance to the church of St. Roch, on recom- 
mendation of our courier that the best music in Paris 
was to be heard at this church. We went early, ex- 
pecting a large crowd, and sat through a sermon de- 
livered in French, then witnessed the ceremony of high 
mass, performed with all the pomp and precision of 
the strictest adherence to ancient form and custom. 
We one and all declined to partake of the bits of bread 
offered without distinction to saint and sinner, as in 
the Mormon churches. Before this ceremony ended, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 207 

no less than three collections were taken up, the 
American contributions being not the most insignifi- 
cant part of the sum total. 

The fine music we came expressly to hear was some- 
what disappointing on account of its brevity, but for 
my part, I was well repaid in being carried heaven- 
ward, by the notes of a clear soprano voice, that should 
make the fortune of its possessor, were it not for one 
thing — it belonged to a lad who had not yet attained 
that critical period in a boy's, as in a young cockerel's, 
existence, where the sounds issuing from the throat of 
each are of such veiy uncertain timbre, and likely, as 
maturity, in the case of either approaches, to result in 
a change sometimes disappointing. 

St. Sulpice is a grand old church situated on the left 
bank of the Seine, whose inception dates back to 1646. 
Its chief attraction is an organ with nearly seven thou- 
and pipes, said to be the largest organ in the world. 
I shall always remember St. Sulpice as the church in 
which I got lost. 

I was behind one of its ponderous pillars jotting- 
down some notes, and had not observed the departure 
of Cooper with his numerous retinue. When I found 
mj'Self in the lurch, I flew from chapel to chapel mak- 
ing inquiries, but alas ! could not make myself under- 
stood ; then I rushed for the door, but was again per- 
plexed, for here three streets confronted me, in none 



298 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of which could I discern any signs of a gang of tou- 
rists. 

It was considered a breach of decorum for any one 
to keep the party waiting. The culprit was scowled 
upon, and felt conscious that he was being anathema- 
tized secretly, and was thus made to feel the enormity 
of his misdemeanor. If this had been my first offense 
I should have rested easy. Before starting for any 
place, when noses were counted, the courier, whose 
duty it was to round us up, on discovering any absent- 
ees, at once jumped to the conclusion — if the number 
consisted of two — that I was one, and a gentleman of 
the party whom he invariably alluded to as "Mr. 
Schmidt" was the other. On this occasion I knew my 
name was Grover, and if I could have believed that 
they would have driven off and left me as a punish- 
ment, I should have preferred it to the reception that 
I knew awaited me, when I put in a tardy appearance. 
Through a beggar woman, to whom I had refused alms 
on entering the church, I was indebted for the discov- 
ery of the party, who were sitting in the wagon, two 
blocks off, while Cooper was scouring the neighborhood 
for the lost sheep, and a black one at that. The " child 
of alms," though not speaking or understanding a word 
of English, and all my French being confined to the 
inquiry, combieu f interpreted aright my perplexity, 
and seizing my hand, ran with me down the Rue de 
Vaurigard to a cross street, where, still a block away, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 299 

I discovered the object of my search, and the occupants 
of the wagon the object of their wrath. I was so ex- 
cited when I observed them, that I pressed a coin into 
the beggar's hand without looking at it, and from the 
expression of her face when she looked, I am inclined to 
think it must have been a half-Napoleon — possibly 
only a half-franc — either one was a windfall to that 
creature, of whom there was no possibility of her name 
being connected with anything that smacked of the ro- 
mantic. In the commencement of this chapter I set 
out to describe Paris a-la-guide-book, but these inter- 
ruptions will creep in, in spite of me, but being facts, 
why not ? 

While I am on this subject, I may as well relate an 
incident whereof the Judge figures prominently in the 
role with respect to which these lines have brought 
me into undue prominence. 

It was in Rome, on a sleepy August afternoon. 
Time was called at 4 o'clock, sharp, and as "Mr. 
Schmidt" and I were both present, the courier 
concluded we were all aboard, and signaled the driver 
to move on. We occupied two wagons, and this in a 
measure accounted for our friend, the Judge being left, 
the occupants of our wagon supposing he was with 
the party in the rear, and, vice versa, none of us dis- 
covering that he was not along until we had covered 
at least a mile. It was then too late to return and we 
went on to the Pantheon without him. 



300 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

On the return of the party to the hotel he was not 
to be found, and as table d'hote waits for no man, we 
found it incumbent upon us to sit down to the table 
with his accustomed seat unoccupied. When dinner 
was about half over he put in an appearance, and as a 
truthful chronicler, whether the shoe pinches my own 
foot or that of a friend, I am bound to say that on the 
entire trip, this was the first instance where the 
Judge's even temper had swerved a particle from its 
balance. On all previous occasions, no matter 
what the provocation (and that there was pro- 
vocation heaped up and running over no one of the 
Cook party will deny), he was always the courteous, 
self-sacrificing, all wool, three-foot-to-the-yard gentle- 
man, and I want to say right here that the best place 
to size a man up, next to the army, is on one of these 
close corporation excursion parties. The man or 
woman that will command the admiration of their fel- 
low travelers until the party- disbands at the end of 
the journey deserves the highest encomiums. 

I think that when I join another Oook party, which 
is by no means impossible, I will have it organized 
on the progressive euchre plan, and at its termination 
award first prizes to the gentleman who was the 
most affable, and the lady who could be amiable 
under the most trying circumstances, while a " booby " 
prize designed for the selfish, ill natured creature of 
either sex, might altogether avert its bestowal. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 301 

There was not one of our party, if the truth were 
known, who did not feel guilty of culpable negligence 
when they found the Judge was missing, and when he 
strode into the dining hall, this consciousness was so ap- 
parent that each one seemed anxious to offer a word of 
apology, and some offered to condole with him ; but he 
shut them up, by hotly asserting that if the Colonel 
(alluding to me) had been a whole hour late, they 
would all have waited for him. "We finally appeased 
his just wrath by giving him to understand that after 
the ices were served and disposed of we would 
have a grand self-inflicted kicking match in the court 
yard. The kindly light came back to his eye, and as 
the ices, Roman ices, slowly, lingeringly disappeared, 
he told us of his chagrin when he found he had tarried 
a few moments too long in writing. He concluded to 
make the effort to follow us up, but got bewildered and 
lost, and when he supposed he was near the hotel, 
found he was three miles away, and with not sufficient 
knowledge of Italian to make his wants known, he 
was under the necessity of imitating Bayard Taylor 
on his first European tour, and that was to go it afoot. 



■ 
CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 



PARIS CONTINUED. 



The Column Vendome, standing in the Place Ven- 
dome, is one of the most conspicuous objects that greet 
the eye in the streets of Paris. The original was con- 
structed by order of Napoleon I., in imitation of the 
Column of Trajan, at Rome, to commemorate victories 
over the Austrians and Russians. It is built of ma- 
sonry encased with bronze, the product of one thou- 
sand two hundred cannons. It stands one hundred 
and forty-two feet high, with a diameter of thirteen 
feet, and is surmounted by a statue of the Little Cor- 
poral himself. The Communists pulled it down and 
broke it into a number of pieces, but it was re-cast 
from the same material, and will now doubtless stand 
until another Commune gets ripe. 

The palace of the Louvre and the palace of Luxem- 
bourg are the two great picture galleries and art depos- 
itories of Paris. The old portion of the Louvre was 
erected by Francis I., and was occupied as a palace by 
Catherine de' Medici and her son, Charles IX. Suc- 
cessive rulers have added to the vast proportion, but 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 303 

not improved the early architecture, known as the Re- 
naissance. Opposite to the Louvre stands the church 
of St. Germain. From a window in this palace, Cath- 
erine de' Medici held a candle at midnight as a signal 
to toll the great bell of St. Germain, which was to an- 
nounce the dreadful moment when the most atrocious 
act in the whole history of religious persecution should 
commence. St. Bartholomew's day of that year was 
written in blood. 

The Huguenots, or French Protestants, were cut 
down like dogs wherever found, and the carnival of 
blood never ceased for a moment throughout that ter- 
rible day until fully thirty thousand, and I know not 
how many more, of the heretics had yielded up their 
lives, martyrs to the simple faith of Luther. There 
was more venom concentrated in the fangs of the 
mother church throughout this and subsequent periods 
of its existence than the heathen world has exhibited, 
even under the reign of the monster Nero. Truly, 
the saying of Christ, " I come not to send peace, but a 
sword," has been literalty fulfilled. 

There is a room in the Louvre where Henry IV. 
died from a stab received in his carriage by Ravaillac, 
a Huguenot, incited out of revenge for a change of 
faith on the part of the king. Ravaillac was a religi- 
ous crank. 

Napoleon's room has a fine frescoed ceiling, repre- 
senting Michael Angelo presenting the plan of St. 



304 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Peter of Eome, to Pope Julius. There is another 
room containing a large number of costly snuff boxes 
owned by one of the kings of France, and also some 
costly saddles presented by the authorities of Egypt 
to Napoleon I. 

In another room is shown the Bible of Catharine 
de' Medici, the helmet of her son, Charles IX., and the 
sword of Charlemagne. 

The main picture gallery is seven hundred and fifty 
feet long, and the pictures of the Louvre, if strung out 
in a line, would reach seven miles ; so says Cooper, 
the redoubtable. Rubens resided for a while in Paris, 
and this gallery contains twenty-one pictures executed 
by him. Of course in so large a collection there are 
many works .of the old masters prized beyond compu- 
tation. The Louvre is perhaps the center of attrac- 
tion in Paris. It is impossible to do justice to it in 
one visit ; a dozen would scarcely satisfy the taste of 
the true lovers of art. There is one painting here by 
the Spanish master, Murillo, " The Immaculate Con- 
ception," which the emperor of Russia coveted for his 
collection and offered a fabulous sum for, but the 
offer was declined with thanks. 

In a room containing statuary is the celebrated 
" Venus de Milo," excavated on the island of Milo in 
1821. It was purchased for twelve hundred dollars, 
but is so highly prized that an offer of two hundred 
thousand dollars has been refused for it. There is also 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 305 

a colossal statue of Melpomene which is the very per- 
fection of artistic skill. 

The Palace of Luxembourg was erected in 1615 by 
order of Marie de' Medici. After the first revolution 
in 1793 it was transformed into a prison. At the pre- 
sent time it is utilized for a three-fold purpose, viz.: 
the residence of the chief of police, the assembly hall 
of the senate, and the gallery for modern painting and 
other works of art. Aside from the glamor that at- 
taches to the work of the old masters, the production 
of modern artists which hang in the gallery are far 
more seductive and pleasing to the eye. And the 
same may be said of the exquisite pieces of sculpture 
that fill one entire large hall in this gallery. In an- 
cient sculpture it is a rare thing to find even in the 
most cherished objects that have survived the effects 
of the despoiler's hand, that which excites to more 
than mere admiration. 

With only one or two exceptions, the priceless relics 
of antiquarian art, sculptors have conveyed no illusions 
or excited the enthusiasm on their merits alone, which 
the devotees of culture claim for them. Doubtless the 
fault lies with me in lacking the necessaiy qualifica- 
tions to form a just conception of their superiority 
over the modern school of art. It may be claimed 
that one is the mere reflex of the other, but to do that 
would be to stultify ourselves in the belief that mod- 
ern artists are lacking in originality of design ; that 

20 



306 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the workmanship is deficient in tone and finish, no 
one who compares the two will care to admit. I have 
seen statues of modern date possessing the very pose 
and expression of the " human form divine," so realis- 
tic, as by a slight stretch of the imagination, one 
could almost fancy they were moulded of animate clay 
by the master hand of the Omnipotent. 

The Luxembourg serves as the nursery to the Lou- 
vre gallery, as the most meritorious paintings are re- 
moved from time to time to the latter, their places 
being occupied by later productions. Art is encour- 
aged fully as much iu Paris as in Rome. 

The palace of Versailles is about fifteen miles from 
Paris, but so easy of access as to be considered almost 
as one of its chief attractions. We drove out, halting 
briefly at the ruins of the palace of St. Cloud, built in 
1658 by Louis XIV., and destroyed by fire in the bom- 
bardment of 1870. It was the favorite resort of Na- 
poleon I. and likewise of Napoleon III. After the 
battle of Waterloo, Blucher made his headquarters 
here in 1815, and it was here that the terms of the 
capitulation of Paris were signed but a short time be- 
fore its destruction. 

The palace of Versailles was built by Louis XIV., 
at a cost of two hundred millions of dollars. It stands 
on an elevation, approached through a picketed enclos- 
ure, in the center of which stands an equestrian bronze 
statue of the founder. It was at the base of this statue 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 307 

that the generals of the Prussian army declared King 
William Emperor of all Germany. Looking towards 
the palace from this point can be seen the balcony 
where Maria Theresa, in answer to the cries of the 
mob, made her appearance with the Dauphin in her 
arms. But the mob was not appeased, and broke down 
the doors of the palace. Under the protection of La- 
fayette, she and the king were conducted to the palace 
of the Tuileries, where the mob again forced an en- 
trance, overpowering and killing the Swiss guards, 
eight hundred of whom forfeited their lives. The 
lion of Lucerne commemorates this event. The prom- 
ised protection of Lafayette, who was a revolutionist 
by nature, proved abortive, for both the king and queen 
were led forth to the guillotine. 

The square or court yard alluded to contains several 
statues, amongst which are those of Bayard, Colbert, 
and Massena. In the reign of Louis Philippe the pal- 
ace was converted into a museum, and what a grand 
one it is. The inscription, " To all the glories of France," 
does not belie it. Its halls are crowded with the por- 
traits of the generals, admirals, and sovereigns of 
France, and hundreds of battle scenes, forming a bril- 
liant and intensely interesting panorama. In a hall, 
three hundred and ninety-six feet long and fifty-two 
feet wide, are hung thirty-three battle scenes. In an- 
other hall is the famous painting by David, " The Cor- 
onation of Napoleon I." But the most absorbing work 



308 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of the painter's skill, to my eye, was portrayed on an 
immense canvas, " The Last Days of the Eeign of Ter- 
ror." I have forgotten the name of the artist, but the 
picture left an impression on my mind which will re- 
main there. We were shown the various state apart- 
ments — one chamber where three queens of France 
have lodged, and an apartment furnished expressly for 
Queen Victoria, on her visit to France, but which, I 
believe, she did not occupy. Of course, these apart- 
ments, including those occupied by Louis XIV., are all 
furnished and decorated in a style of magnificence un- 
surpassed. 

A visit to Versailles would not be complete without 
an inspection of the beautiful gardens, and the state 
carriages, some six or eight in number, which now 
that royalty is banished from France, are no longer of 
any use save as curiosities. In point of magnificence 
they are far superior to any state carriages used in the 
procession of the Queen's jubilee in London. 

On the return drive to Paris we stopped at the 
factory where the costly ware known as Sevres china 
is made by a process that is a state secret. It takes a 
long bank account to become possessor of a single vase 
or half a dozen plates of this beautiful ceramic ware. 

We also paid our respects to the government manu- 
factory of Gobelin tapestries. None are made for sale. 
The custom of sovereigns or the ruling power in 
nations exchanging costly presents exhausts the supply. 



PROM NILE TO XILE. 309 

The art of weaving in colors so that the production 
looks like an oil painting or a piece of mosiac turned 
out by the Vatican, is here brought to the highest state 
of perfection. The trade is handed down from father 
to son and is the most particular and tedious work on 
earth. One expert hand is only able to complete one 
and one-half square inches per day. We were shown 
one design that was commenced in 1876, labored at 
assiduously and will be ready for exhibition in 1889. 
They showed us a Persian rug of tapestry work which 
was four hundred years old. They have specimens of 
the work here from the infancy of the art up to the 
present time, showing the gradual improvement that 
has been made in its manufacture as the ages rolled 

by. 

The disintegration of the party now began to take 
place, some preferring to remain in Paris indefinitely, 
others taking the night train for London, while the 
remainder, including ourselves, continued on under 
the guardianship of the courier, leaving Paris on Mon- 
day morning for London via Dieppe and New Haven. 

It was a stormy day, and we had our misgivings 
before going aboard the steamer that was to carry us 
across the stormy waters of the English Channel. 
They were more than verified when the tub of a side- 
wheeler encountered the angry waves of^the meanest 
stretch of water in existence, and was tossed about 
like an eggshell in the teeth of a fierce gale that 



310 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

threatened to send us all to a watery grave, and suc- 
ceeded in exacting tribute to Neptune from one hun- 
dred and ninety-five passengers out of the two hun- 
dred that had shipped by this vessel. Most of us had 
remained on deck until our clothing was completely 
saturated, when, the storm growing more violent, the 
ladies were conducted below and given in charge of 
the stewardess, who took them under her motherly 
wing and administered to their well being, in a crisis 
when each one was too sick even to die. I never was 
more thankful in my life than when the chalk cliffs 
of old England, still seven miles distant, hove in sight. 
When at length the boat landed and the passengers 
went ashore, some of their own volition, some in the 
brawny arms of the sailors, we were absolutely the 
most washed-out, bedraggled, woe-begone party of ex- 
cursionists, I venture to say, that had crossed the 
Channel in the year of jubilee. We had no opportu- 
nity of changing our wet garments until we reached 
the Midland Grand in London, so we shivered and 
tried to cheer each other up in the two or three hours' 
ride to London. It was eight o'clock when we reached 
home, for home it was to us so long as we remained 
abroad. And thus terminated our circular trip on the 
Continent. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



STRATFORD-ON-AVON STOKE POGIS ETON COLLEGE 

WINDSOR CASTLE WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 



Now that we were back in London, we set about 
visiting such places as had been denied us before, or 
as had been reserved until this time. First we 
took a run up to Stratford-on-Avon, noted as the birth 
and burial place of Shakespeare. We traveled by rail 
as far as Leamington, and then took a carriage for 
Stratford, passing through a lovely stretch of country 
for a distance of fourteen miles. We dined at the Red 
Horse Inn, made famous by Washington Irving, whose 
sojourn here has added no little prestige to the reputa- 
tion of the town, besides proving a bonanza for the 
proprietor of the inn, for all Americans feel honored 
by the fame of one of their most distinguished coun- 
trymen and patronize the Red Horse rather than the 
Red Lion, out of respect for the memory of the author 
of Rip Van Winkle, and not because of any especial 
merits the Red Horse possesses for the comfort of man 
or beast. 



312 FEOM NILE TO NILE. 

We were conducted after dinner to the house in 
which Shakespeare was born, and shown the room in 
which he first saw the light of day. The old house 
has been converted into a museum, where some anti- 
quated English ladies point out to you relics of Shake- 
speare's time, some of which they claim once belonged 
to him. Strange to say, there is not a scrap of paper 
in this museum, nor anywhere else that I am aware 
of, containing specimens of his handwriting, not even 
his signature. The nearest to it — and that is nowhere 
— is a time stained note addressed to him by an impe- 
cunious friend asking for the loan of a small sum of 
money. 

From the museum we drove around in a pelting 

storm — the conveyance was an open one — to the old 

parish church, some portions of which date from the 

thirteenth ceAtury, where the remains of the immortal 

bard were laid away. Within the chancel is a bust of 

him and beneath it a flat stone with the well known 

inscription as follows : 

Good frend, for Jesvs' sake forbeare, 
To digg the dvst encloased heare: 
Bleste be ye man that spares thes stones, 
And curst be he that moves my bones. 

Another inscription, in Latin, is on the tablet beneath 

the bust, which rendered into English is as follows : 

"In judgment a Nestor, in intellect a Socrates, in art 

a Virgil, the earth covers, the people mourn, Olympus 

has him," followed by a verse in old English, too 



FKOM NILE TO NILE. 313 

lengthy to copy, but closing with the date of his 
death, April 23d. 1616, aged fifty-three years. A fine 
memorial hall has been erected to his memory, and 
another monument still in the hands of the workmen 
is being put up with a fund contributed by certain 
Americans. 

Here we parted company with that portion of the 
Cook party who were to embark for their homes in 
"God's country" the following day. Speaking for 
myself, I am free to say that I gave the parting hand 
with reluctance. For fifty days they had been my 
companions through all the pleasures and discomforts 
of a trip, which to all of us I doubt not, was so replete 
with happiness that it would have been like ingratitude 
to Providence to hope for another in this life that 
should equal it. In that brief period, ties of friend- 
ship were formed which absence and the cares of life 
are not likely to tear asunder, or cause a relapse into 
forge tfulness. It was close to midnight when we 
reached London in a special, and rattled over the 
Cobblestones for two miles to our hotel. 

The next excursion we made was to Windsor Castle, 
distant about twenty -two miles out from London. 
The queen being absent from Balmoral, we anticipated 
no difficulty in being shown through the apartments 
of state. We arrived before the doors were thrown 
open to visitors, and an old gentleman seeing us 
loitering around and divining that we were Americans, 



314 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

volunteered to drive us behind his pair of fast cobs to 
Stoke Pogis, distant about six miles, and show us the 
house where William Penn was born and the country 
church yard where Gray wrote his Elegy, and where 
his remains were laid. Promising to return in about 
an hour, we accepted and found ourselves bowling 
along over a smooth road and through one of the most 
beautiful rural sections to be found in England. We 
were not long in getting there, and improved the time 
by asking the driver all sorts of questions relating to 
Penn and the poet Gray. He always had an answer 
ready which created a suspicion in my mind that the 
old gent thought that he had caught four suckers on 
his hook whom it might be policy to humor a little. 
He pointed out the magnificent park of five hundred 
acres, in which vast herds of big red deer were tamely 
feeding, once belonging to the Penn estate. The 
large white mansion partially concealed by huge 
ancestral trees, he assured us was the veritable house 
in which William Penn was born, spent a portion of 
his mature years, and after a life of usefulness, 
checkered with hardships and imprisonment, laid 
himself down and died in the house where his mother 
had given him birth. 

A cab driver is not supposed to know everything, 
but here was one who knew it all. It is the general 
impression that the great philanthropist was born in 
the city of London and died at Euscombe, in Berk- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 315 

shire, seventy years ago. When we came to the old 
church yard we had no need to pin our faith to the old 
man's utterances. It tallied with one's conception of 
the finest pastoral poem in the English language. It 
was surmounted by a stone wall, but laborers were at 
work extending its limits, for, sad reminders of one's 
latter end, the inheritance of all mankind to six feet 
of earth had all been pre-empted, and here no claims 
are jumped. The little old church, with its ancient, 
high-backed pews, stands in the center. A tablet fixed 
to the outer wall has an inscription w r hich, amongst 
other things, notices that Thomas Gray, the author of 
Gray's Elegy, lies buried near this spot. Between the 
church yard and the road a fine monument, inscribed 
with verses from the Elegy, is erected to his memory. 

On the return we were let down, for a moment, at 
Eton College, which stands on the opposite side of the 
Thames from Windsor Castle. We entered the court 
yard, where stands a bronze statue of Henry VI., and 
made our way into one of the class rooms, dingy with 
age, and viewed with vivid recollections of our own 
school boy days, the uncomfortable benches and desks 
of a by-gone period. The oaken posts that supported 
the upper floor were carved by the penknife with the 
names or initials of boys who are now old men, or are 
at rest in their graves; one, more ambitous than all 
the rest, carved his at the very top, affixing the date 



316 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

1767 — nine years before the independence of the States 
was declared. 

Recrossing the Thames, we drove into the spacious 
court yard of Windsor Castle, and, after procuring a 
permit, entered by one of the doors, and were ushered 
into a waiting room, where quite a crowd had congre- 
gated for the same purpose that brought us hither. We 
were detained here for a few minutes, when, following 
the guide, we proceeded up a narrow, winding stair- 
way to the first of ten rooms comprising the state 
apartments. I confess to a sense of disappointment, 
after going through these apartments, at the lack of 
grandeur displayed in ornamentation and interior fin- 
ish, as compared with palaces we had visited else- 
where ; and yet this residence of monarchy, sharing 
the honors at one time with Hampton Court, is consid- 
ered as the acme of all structures of the castellated 
order to be found in Europe. There were two rooms 
containing portraits painted by Van Dyke and Zuccar- 
illi, another one contains tapestries and a stained glass 
portrait of George III. The Waterloo chamber, where 
state banquets are sometimes given, contains some- 
thing like forty portraits of reigning sovereigns of 
Europe in the time of George III., together with those 
of leading characters of that day, both civil and mili- 
tary. 

The grand reception room, which really is a fine one, 
contains a number of Gobelin tapestries and a superb 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 317 

malachite vase, presented to the Queen by the Em- 
peror Nicholas, of Russia. St. George's Hall is two 
hundred feet long by thirty-four feet wide and thirty- 
two feet high. It contains the sovereign's throne, 
manj^ portraits of Knights of the Garter, and twenty- 
four shields emblazoned with the arms of each sover- 
eign, covering many decades. The guard chamber 
was, to me, the most interesting of all the rooms. In 
it are contained the armour of knights and princes as 
far back as 1530, two unique chairs — one constructed 
from an oak beam taken from " Alio way's auld haunted 
kirk," which the genius of Burns brought into repute 
— the other made from an elm grown on the battle field 
of Waterloo. There were, also, relics of naval battles, 
trophies from Inkerman, Zululand, and King Kaffee's 
umbrella from Ash an tee, besides a handsome silver 
shield presented to Henry VIII., on the Field of the 
Cloth of Gold, by Francis. 

The Queen's presence chamber contains tapestries 
illustrating scenes from the life of Queen Esther, and 
some old portraits. The Queen's audience room, like 
its predecessor, has its walls decorated with tapestries 
in continuation of the life of Queen Esther. There is, 
also, a full length portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
whom the papal authorities are about to canonize — 
three hundred years after she was beheaded. There are 
three inscriptions in Latin surrounding this picture, 
giving an epitome of the causes that led to her execu- 



318 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tion — mainly her adherence to the Romish church. 
From here we passed into the vestibule and stepped 
down and out. 

But a little way, and we entered Albert Chapel, for- 
merly Wolsey's Chapel, built by Henry VII., and re- 
stored a few years since. It is the handsomest church 
we saw in England, not large, but embellished elabo- 
rately with mosaics and pictures in marble — a style of 
art I do not remember to have seen elsewhere. 

It contains a superb cenotaph of Prince Albert, and 
the tomb of Leopold, the queen's deceased son, 
which is very beautiful. We next entered St. George's 
chapel, built in 1474, which is of Gothic design, and 
considered one of the finest in Europe. It contains 
the tombs of some of England's kings, and of many 
other noted persons, including the Duke of Kent, 
father of the queen. The choir is hung with banners, 
helmets, and insignia of the Knights of the Garter. 
Its numerous chapels abound in handsome monuments 
and the windows are rich in coloring, intended as 
memorials of the defunct sovereigns of the lineage 
represented in the person of the present queen — the 
proud and successful house of Hanover. A painting 
by Benjamin West of " The Last Supper" is one of 
the not least valued adornments of St. George. 

This closed our sight seeing for this day, and we 
returned to London. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 319 

During the preparation for the queen's jubilee, and 
for some weeks thereafter, Westminster Abbey was 
not accessible to the public. Happily the restrictions 
were removed in time to enable us to survey it at our 
leisure. To the English speaking race, as a whole, 
there is no ecclesiastical building of medieval times 
that presents a stronger attraction than this old Ab- 
bey. It is built on a site where King Sebert erected a 
monastery for the Benedictines in 616, which was de- 
stroyed by the Danes, but was rebuilt by Edgar in 985, 
and had additions made to it by Edward the Confessor, 
Henry III., and Edward I. It was a Catholic institu- 
tion up to the time of Queen Elizabeth, except for a 
period during the reign of Henry VIII. All the En- 
glish sovereigns since Harold have been crowned here, 
and the chair in which they all sat is one of the treas- 
ured relics of the place. There is a constant stream 
of visitors going into and coming out of the Abbey. 

To one who has seen so many of the churches of 
Europe it might be supposed that disappointment 
awaited me when I gained access to Westminster 
Abbey, but such was not the case. There is nothing 
here but what inspires one with veneration. It is 
vast, harmonious and solemn, and you feel this when 
you enter its sanctuary. It is replete with statues and 
tablets, lining the isles and transepts, and in the chap- 
els repose the bones of many historical characters. It 
would be wearisome to specify these, but among them 



120 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

are the tombs of Henry VII., James I., Charles II., 
William and Mary, Edward VII., Queen Anne, 
George II., Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, 
Edward V., Henry V., Henry III., Kichard II., Ed- 
ward the Confessor, and Edward I. In the Poet's 
Corner are inscriptions to all the poets and great writ- 
ers of England, some of whom are buried here. There 
is likewise in this corner a superb bust of our own 
Longfellow. 

It must not be inferred from the manner in which I 
have treated the historical objects of Great Britain 
that I have deemed them unworthy of elaboration. 
In this narrative I have aimed at nothing higher 
than to refresh the memory of the casual reader of 
history, or excite an interest in the minds of some 
who have attached but little importance to the land- 
marks of a nation with the proudest record of any 
monarchy that the world has known, that has an 
existence to-day, and with which the threads of our 
own history are so inextricably interwoven, that, 
whether we will or no, we must accept English history 
prior to the revolution, as being as much a part of our 
own, as it is of the present " tight little isle." Hav- 
ing now paid our last respects to England so far as 
these pages are concerned, we invite you to accom- 
pany us to that far away land where the mystic scenes 
of a civilization of which we can have but a faint 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 321 

conception were enacted at so remote a period that all 
we have written of hoary Rome, and ancient Britain, 
seems to be of the last century in comparison. 



21 



CHAPTER XL. 



FROM LONDON TO GENOA. 



On the twenty-fifth of September, after storing all 
our baggage in London, except two valises containing 
just such effects as necessity demanded, we boarded 
the train at Charing Cross station for Folkestone. 
Charlie having spent a vacation of two weeks with us 
in the metropolis, was reluctantly returning to those 
duties which the innate fondness for play, implanted in 
the minds of all healthy children render, after a 
pleasurable vacation, excessively irksome. 

Remaining over night in Folkestone, we bade the 
little fellow a heart-rending farewell on the steps that 
descended from the Montague school, and then sorrow- 
fully wended our way to the West Cliff Hotel, to pass 
the night and partake of an early breakfast, then being 
rapidly driven to the Shorn cliff station were just in 
time to catch the down train for Dover, where we 
landed after a rapid run and immediately went aboard 
the superb steamer that plies between this point and 
Calais, on the French side of the channel. The con- 
trast between this passage that lasted eighty minutes, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 323 

and the one described in a former chapter that 
consumed five hours, was very striking ; we had a 
smooth sea, and nothing occurred to mar our trip to 
Paris. 

In the gay French capital we lingered three days, 
but the incessant rain, sometimes a deluge, seriously 
interfered with anticipated enjoj'inents and confined 
us for the most part to the dreariness of a Parisian 
hotel. 

We left Paris in a drenching rain storm at night as 
the clocks were tolling out the hour of nine. The 
prospect of a long ride over a road noted for its rough- 
ness, made me somewhat anxious to obtain the best 
accommodations possible, but when the courier handed 
me a bill of seventy-eight francs for two berths in a 
sleeper, to be occupied until seven o'clock next morn- 
ing, I concluded, that rather than submit to extortion? 
almost any kind of accommodations would be good 
enough, and so I returned the bill with thanks. Our 
party for Palestine was small, consisting only of a 
third person besides myself and wife. We were fortu- 
nate in securing the lion's share of a compartment to 
ourselves, of which I had ten feet of cushioned seat to 
myself, my wife all that comfort demanded, and a 
third person, who chanced to be a lady of that class 
of whom Weller the elder cautioned his son Samivel 
to bevare, all that she cared to occupy, as she seemed 



324 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

to prefer huddling up in a corner, to the elongated 
process of being wooed and won, by the drowsy god. 

Toward morning, as we neared the French frontier, 
the ladies both accused me of snoring. It cut me to 
the heart, for if there is any great virtue I claim more 
than another, it is the soft and childlike respiration of 
my nocturnal slumbers. Having occupied rooms with 
certain comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic 
at a crowded annual encampment, and lain awake 
through the long watches of the night, with every 
nerve strung to its utmost tension, and wondering if 
the next nasal explosion would equal the last, I could 
sympathize with the two lone women locked in a com- 
partment, subjected to the disturbing notes of the man 
who snores. 

Now, don't you know that so perverse is human 
nature that I boldly denied the grave charge, claimed 
that I was the aggrieved party, and by inuendo laid the 
deed at the door of passenger number three? She 
declared that she had not slept a wink the whole night ; 
but, on being pinned down to the facts, admitted that 
she might have " dropped off" just for a minute or 
two. 

After a late breakfast at Modean, on the French 
frontier, we proceeded on our journey, but soon shot 
into the Mont Cenis tunnel, which occupied thirty 
minutes in passing through. Then we descended the 
Alps on the other side, down through vineyards with 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 325 

drooping bunches of juicy grapes awaiting their doom 
in the wine press. Wherever a chestnut tree could 
find root, amongst the rocks on the hillsides, its 
branches stooped to the burden of an excessive yield 
of sweet but unwholesome nuts double in size the 
American variety. 

Leaving snow, mountain vineyards and chestnut 
forests in our rear, we presently emerged into the 
broad, fertile plain surrounding the handsome, wide 
awake city of Turin, where we found accommodations 
at the " Trombetta " until the ensuing day, when we 
continued the journey to Genoa and tarried here three 
or four days, waiting until our steamer was in readi- 
ness to leave its moorings and carry us out into that 
sea whose sky blue waters looked tempting enough for 
a sail here in the harbor, but beyond, presented that 
peculiar ruffled appearance indicative of a rough 



You will remember that in a former chapter I 
expressed a regret that we were not allowed sufficient 
time in Genoa to take in its sights. I was not then 
aware that I should be so fortunate as to return to it, 
with time enough to spare to see all that was worth 
seeing. Securing the services of a guide, whose 
knowledge of the English language, accompanied by 
the usual prolixity of gesture was barely able to make 
him understood, we visited the various churches, 



326 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

palaces, gardens, etc.. of which Genoa seems to have. a 
surfeit. 

The cathedral of St. Lorenzo was built in the 
eleventh century, of the style known as the Gothic 
Renaissance with alternate layers of black and white 
marble. It contains some .fine paintings, one by 
Borrachio, which Napoleon carried off to Paris, after- 
ward returned by the government of France ; also fine 
statues of the school of Angelo, the Tomb of Doges, 
who with a council of ten ruled Genoa at one period 
of her history in the same manner, though perhaps 
not so infamously as they governed Venice. In this 
church are preserved relics held to be sacred by those 
of the Catholic faith, consisting of two silver gilt 
boxes made by Contucio in 1488, containing the ashes 
of John the Baptist brought from the city of Myra, a 
seaport town of Lycia, in 1097. and which are paraded 
through the streets on Corpus Christi day with great 
pomp. Another relic is an emerald dish on which the 
paschal lamb was served at the last supper. " If you 
believe that you can believe anything.'* This was 
captured from the Saracens at the storming of Ca?sarea 
in 1101. 

The church of the Annunciation was begun in the 
year 600, but only completed in 1783. It is a true bas- 
ilica, and with its large Corinthian columns of mottled 
marble, its groined work and cornices, all blue and 
gold, and its seven chapels on each side of the aisles 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 327 

finished in the most elaborate manner, has a very 
pleasing effect. The canopies of the two main altars 
are supported by serpentine columns of purest alabas- 
ter, and two chapels, one on each side of the apse, are 
fitted up most gorgeously. The frescoes, which are 
one of the main features of its attractiveness, were ex- 
ecuted by Carlona, who, having killed a rival artist 
through jealousy, fled to this sanctuary for refuge. 
The wily priests, knowing his value, set him at work 
to embellish the bare and unsightly plastered roof of 
their church, and murderer and hiding culprit as he 
was, he has left the impress of his genius on that na- 
ked ceiling in a manner so gorgeous and beautiful that, 
outside of a few of the old masters, his work has no 
rival elsewhere. The exterior appearance of this 
church is very commonplace, but the grandeur of the 
interior compensates one for his disappointment before 
entering it. 

The church of St. Matthew is noted only for its 
erypt, which contains the sarcophagus of Andrea Do- 
rias, called the " Father of his Country," and proba- 
bly the greatest man Genoa ever produced. In the 
cloister are two mutilated statues of colossal size, mi- 
nus head, feet, and arms. They were statues to Prince 
Dorias and his brother, and are all that were left of 
many fine statues and works of art when the revolu- 
tionists destroyed the Doges' palace, in 1849. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



GENOA CONTINUED CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 



There are no art galleries in Genoa, outside of the 
palaces, but of those, we visited so many in the course 
of our three days' stay that we were forced to call a 
halt. Even palaces grow monotonous after one has 
climbed three nights of stairs from six to twelve times 
a day, and witnessed a remarkable sameness in style 
and adornments. In two of these palaces we were 
shown beds where Napoleon had slept and tables 
at which he dined. The royal palace, of course, dif- 
fered somewhat from the others in grandeur and ex- 
tent. We were admitted to the private apartments of 
the King and Queen through the potency of a French 
coin. The Queen's bed chamber was somewhat more 
gorgeous than my queen occupies. I had eyes for one 
object only, and that was the bed. It was of modern 
construction, all gold and crimson velvet, with a hand- 
somely worked coat of arms at the head, a silken can- 
opy over all, surmounted in the center by a golden 
crown. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 329 

The throne room was very elegant, all the orna- 
mentation gold, the walls hung in rich velvets and the 
furniture laid with gold and upholstered in embroi- 
dered silk. The reception room with the floors of 
polished inlaid wood work, silk hangings and fine 
paintings, was also truly admirable. The remaining 
palaces, except the municipal, are the property of 
scions of the old families prominent in the history of 
Genoa. Some, however, have passed into plebeian 
hands and been diverted to the uses of trade. 

The municipal palace was the most attractive to us, 
for it contained relics that can nowhere else be found. 
We were first admitted after ascending two flights of 
marble stairs, each step a single slab sixteen feet long, 
into a large, finely frescoed room, called the balloting 
chamber, containing on its walls two superb mosaics, 
presented by the city of Venice, one of Christopher 
Columbus, the other of Marco Polo. 

From here we passed into another elegant room, hung 
with fine paintings, one, of Columbus, said to be the 
oldest and most accurate in existence. His features 
are those of a bluff old sea captain. In the mosaic 
they might be taken for an Italian opera singer. Here 
is also a portrait of the great composer, Paganini, and 
in a recess his violin is displayed with a great many 
gestures, smiles and bows by the custodian. In a cor- 
ner of the room is Garibaldi's battle flag, of embroi- 
dered silk, the tri-colors painted red, white and green, 



330 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

on which is painted his portrait. In the opposite cor- 
ner is the white silk flag of the old republic. On the 
wall, encased in a frame, is a decree, cast in bronze in 
the year 187 B. C, relating to some matters between 
Eome and Genoa. Hanging near this are three fac 
simile letters of Christopher Columbus. I was much 
disappointed when informed that the originals could 
not be seen. 

I brooded over it considerably, and that night formed 
a resolution to use, the next day, a persuader of such 
wonderful potency that the iron door of the vault 
that contained them would fly open as though touched 
by the magic wand of an enchantress. The guide de- 
clared by all the saints in the calendar that those let- 
ters had not been exhibited for many years. I asked 
how many, and he said about one hundred. Then I 
knew he lied. I told him Mark Twain had seen them 
not over twenty years ago. He looked incredulous, 
and then he conferred with two or three others, and 
finally gave me to understand that if I was willing to 
risk a certain amount in persuading the custodians to 
produce them, they might be forthcoming. 

So we followed him again to the municipal palace, 
where he hobnobbed with two or three officials, one of 
whom motioned us to a seat, and then ceremoniously 
produced a key and unlocked the door of a vault, and 
returned with a small glass case, say eight by ten 
inches, and a book somewhat larger. The case con- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 331 

tained the three autograph letters of Columbus, writ- 
ten in Spanish, one addressed to the Republic of 
Genoa, one to the bank of St. George, and the other 
to his son. Each letter was fixed between two glasses 
and framed. Their authenticity has never, I believe, 
been brought in question. The following is an exact 
copy of the signature attached to each of the letters : 

8 
S A S 
. X M Y 
X P. O. F. E R E N S. 

Perhaps some erudite student of fifteenth century 
literature may be able to decipher the full signifi- 
cance of that signature. I once made a wild guess at 
it myself, but investigation has convinced me that I 
was in error. I give it up. 

It is said that Columbus was a victim of rheuma- 
tism, which so affected his fingers that only at times 
could he write a clear, legible hand. I am of the opin- 
ion these letters were written when the rheumatics 
had him foul. I do not wonder that Mark Twain, 
with all his love for mischief and disregard of relics 
highly reverenced, or held sacred, should feign disbe- 
lief that the great admiral had used the pen in mak- 
ing such characters as a tomtit with inked feet would 
leave on hopping over a sheet of white paper. I was 
in a situation where I could fully realize the conster- 
nation of the guide when the Doctor indignantly as- 



332 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

serted "that he had seen boys in America only four- 
teen years old who could write better than that." 
There was likewise a memorandum in the same hand- 
writing as the body of the letter. The book, which 
was nearly an inch thick, was a gift to Columbus from 
his kind patroness, the Queen Isabella. Its leaves 
were of vellum most beautifully engraved and illumi- 
nated, but alas ! the contents were as unreadable to 
any of the group who stood around the table as though 
written in hieroglyphics. t 

We had a curiosity to see the old bank of St. George, 
of which it is claimed Columbus was a patron. We 
approached it by a long flight of stone steps. The cor- 
ridor, as well as the banking room itself, is embel- 
lished with life-size marble statues of the old bank 
presidents, and other persons of note, in the Genoa of 
an early period. 

Thus far I have not alluded specifically to the 
system of banking or style of bank buildings one sees 
abroad and with which he is likely to transact some 
business if he carries a letter of credit, which for more 
reasons than one is the safest and most convenient 
form of carrying ready cash or its equivalent. In this 
old bank building of St. George (now used as a custom 
house) there is more in keeping with the style and 
elegance that characterize our American bank build- 
ings, than prevails in Europe at the present time. In 
almost every instance when I desired to draw money 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 333 

— outside of London — I was directed to buildings far 
from imposing in outward appearance and usually up 
one or two long nights of stairs, into such apartments 
as might suit the propensities of a Ralph Nickelby, 
but were totally at variance with all my preconceived 
ideas of continental banking. 

With us the banks, as a rule, seek out the most 
eligible corners in a city, and rear a palace in which 
to conduct their financial operations. In continental 
Europe seclusion is sought, and business is conducted 
in such a manner as to convey the impression that 
banking is illegal, and, like the saloon business of 
Kansas, must be kept in the dark. 

It has been a mooted question whether or not Co- 
lumbus was born in this city. The guide informed us 
that the authorities had recently discovered that Colum- 
bus was a native of Genoa, and he would show us the 
house in which he was born. So .we followed his lead- 
ership through various narrow, winding streets, where 
the houses from the opposite sides almost touched, and 
which were so crowded with the teeming population 
of the lower order as to make our progress exceedingly 
slow work. At length he halted before a narrow four 
story building, showing evidences of great age, and, 
pointing to the second story, said : " Here the great 
Christophero Columbo was born." 

There was a marble tablet fastened to the wall with 
an inscription in Italian, but the only words we could 



334 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

translate into English was the name of Columbns. It 
may be that the guide was hoaxing us, but I relate the 
incident for what it is worth. The fine monument 
which Genoa erected to the memory of Columbus 
stands near the railway fetation. It was placed there 
in 1862, and represents America kneeling at the feet 
of Columbus, with sitting allegorical figures of Wisdom, 
Religion, Geography and Strength. Each of these oc- 
cupies a corner beneath the statue of Columbus. 

The remains of this remarkable man, who died at 
Valladolid in 1506, were transported to the island of 
St. Domingo, and when that island came under French 
domination, were removed to the cathedral of Havana, 
where, let us hope, they will repose undisturbed so 
long as their sepulture remains an object of interest. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



Genoa's campo santo — on the mediterranean — storm 
at sea arrival at alexandria. 



We spent an hour or two very pleasantly in the 
gardens of Dinegro and Rosazza. If these were gar- 
dens of the orthodox style I would not occupy 
your time in attempting to describe them, but 
they are not. Genoa is built on the rocky declivities 
that in a crescent overlook the gulf. These gardens, 
you might say, were hewn out of the rock in the form 
of terraces and earth conveyed hither and filled in at 
great expense. They are traversed by winding paths 
and numerous steps which lead through a profusion of 
flower beds, semi-tropical plants and shrubs, orange 
and lemon, palm and date, camphor, pepper, and I 
might almost exhaust the catalogue of trees common 
to a southern latitude. Besides, there are numerous 
fountains, statues, cascades and grottoes, and when you 
have ascended in the Rosazza garden to a height of 
two hundred and seventy feet, you have a noble pano- 
rama spread out before you ; the amphitheatrical city 



336 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

and the beautiful harbor, where the flag of almost every 
nation may be seen fluttering from the tall spars in 
the shipping. Dinegro at his death bequeathed his 
lovely garden and fine museum to the city, and great 
pride is taken in keeping it up to the standard designed 
by its founder. 

But to my mind the most attractive feature of Genoa 
is its Campo Santo or burial ground. It lies distant 
from the city about one and one-half miles, and 
unquestionably bears away the palm from any other 
city in the world for novelty, grandeur and artistic 
excellence in graveyard statuary. It is in the form of 
an immense cloister or square, each side has an arcade 
probably one thousand feet long and twenty feet wide. 
The arcade as you enter, is on that side double. 
The first contains the bones of the middle class, 
designated merely by a suitable inscription over the 
slab, if buried beneath the pavement, or in tablets if at 
the sides. The inner arcades contain the bones of the 
wealthy and distinguished. Spaces are allotted on 
either side, and here are the most magnificent tombs, 
except a few isolated cases, I have seen in Europe. 
If all the statuary visible in the galleries of Europe 
were collected in one immense hall, it seems to me that 
it could not equal the superb works of art either in 
numbers or skillful workmanship, that beautify Genoa's 
"Holy Field." You pass from one ideal to another 
stupefied with astonishment. The figures are nearly 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 337 

all life size, and if delineating the form, features, style 
of dress and expression of emotion, in Parian marble, 
is a work of art, then it is here attained in its highest 
perfection. I will cite but a few examples. 

A widow reclines on the coffin of her deceased hus- 
band, her attitude and expression are those of mute de- 
spair. In her hand is a bunch of poppies, which sig- 
nifies that her grief is too heavy to be borne. She has 
come here to die of poison. Another represents a 
doorway; the face of the husband and father stands 
out in bas relief. The widow stands in front holding 
up her babe to kiss the marble lips ; her other child 
kneels by her side. Another represents an angel, clad 
in a coat of mail, leaning on his sword ; he stands in 
the door, and his attitude and bearing are suggestive of 
the sentinel " who never sleeps on guard." On either 
side, at the foot of the tomb, stand two angels " in 
white." Another, and the last one I shall name, is a 
boat with sail unfurled and, at the helm, the angel 
that is to guide it over the dark and silent river ; on 
the seat is a pillow trimmed with lace, seemingly — the 
whole about ten feet long, four feet wide, and eight feet 
high, sculptured out of a single block of marble. On the 
opposite side of this arcade is a handsome chapel, but 
the doors were closed before we reached it. The guide 
said it contained many statues equal to any we had 
seen. In the square, enclosed by the four walls of the 
arcade, is the burial ground proper, where the bodies 



338 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

are first buried for three years. The bones are then 
taken up, polished, and laid away forever in the tombs 
of the arcades. 

Having exhausted the sights that claim the atten- 
tion of tourists in the city of palaces, we were eager 
to be again on the wing, and being notified that the 
Italian steamer Enna sailed from her moorings in the 
harbor, on Monday evening, October 3d, at eight 
o'clock, we repaired to the docks, and here took a 
yawl for the small steamer (small in comparison with the 
Umbria) which lay out in the harbor getting up steam 
for a voyage that would consume nearly as much time 
as our voyage across the ocean. 

On board the craft, said to be the best on this line, 
we at once retired to our state room, and the next 
morning woke up to find we had made progress as far 
as Leghorn, where the boat remained all day, taking 
on freight and receiving passengers. 

When she got under weigh in the evening, it ap- 
peared to me that we had taken on board more freight 
and passengers than was consistent with safety and 
comfort. In the steerage there was hardly room to 
stretch out. In the saloon every state room was full, 
but in all this crowd there were but three Americans 
and two English ; the others were Italians, even to a 
pasha of Egypt and a justice of the Egyptian courts 
with whom we sat daily at table, and listened to an 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 339 

animated conversation in which all the Italians joined 
as the humor seized them. 

They appeared to be less reserved in their inter- 
course with each other than is customary with our 
own people. Those who spoke English were excess- 
ively courteous to us, and in all intercourse with peo- 
ple of this nation during our sojourn abroad, we were 
greeted with uniform courtesy and kindness. 

We steamed up the bay of Naples in the evening 
and tied up opposite the great Neapolitan city, of 
whose glories I have already spoken. We remained 
here twenty-eight hours, discharging freight on lighters, 
getting rid of all steerage passengers, and waiting for 
the mails from Rome. As Alexandria had quaran- 
tined against Naples on account of the cholera, no 
passengers destined for that port were allowed to land, 
so we lay there in sight of Vesuvius, fanned by the 
gentle breezes of this glorious clime, yet bewailing our 
unhappy fate in being compelled to endure the monot- 
ony of our situation when, but for the grim spectre, 
cholera, we might have been reveling in all the de- 
lights of Naples at this pleasantest season of the year. 

I can recall but one incident of that dreary twenty- 
eight hours in the bay of Naples that excited one iota 
of interest. We were sitting on the benches, listlessly 
idling the hours away, when suddenly a horrible, 
blood-curdling sound at the ship's side, in the water, 
told us that a man was drowning. We all rushed to 



340 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the side of the vessel, when a nude man (except as to 
the loins) in the water raised a smiling face and, to our 
great disgust, signified that he was there for our amuse- 
ment and his benefit. He requested some one to throw 
a penny in the water and he would dive for it and 
bring it up in his teeth. This he did as many as 
twenty times, never missing once, and to further make 
a display of his amphibious qualities, dived underneath 
the boat, popping up like a cork on the opposite side. 

At length, when the mails were all on board, we 
steamed out of the harbor, and soon the myriad of 
lights in Naples was left glimmering in the distance, 
and we sought our couches, immediately over the screw 
of the boat, that pounded away like a trip-hammer all 
night long, and each successive night while we re- 
mained aboard the ship. The next morning we passed 
close by the active volcano of Stromboli, and not long 
after steamed through the narrow strait of Messina, 
anchoring opposite to this plague spot, where people 
had been dying of cholera like swine for the two 
months previous ; fourteen new cases being reported 
for that day by the ship's surgeon, who went on land 
with the yawl that carried out and returned the mail. 

We were there some three hours, and all the time 
the ship flew the yellow flag, and the little boats from 
shore swarmed around us, and the greasy mail bags 
were loaded into the hold of the vessel, and the sur- 
geon and sailors who had been ashore mixed with the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 341 

passengers without doffing a rag which they had worn 
in the polluted city. And yet this boat steams into 
the harbor of Alexandria with a clean bill of health, 
unloads its passengers and freight, and the law of 
quarantine, like some other laws I know of, is observed 
more in the breach than the observance. 

Then we passed out of the harbor of Messina, past 
Catania — another plague infested spot — all the time 
with the smoke crowned summit of Mt. ^Etna in plain 
view ; past Syracuse, into the broad, open sea, where 
no land was visible, nothing but water and sky, until 
the approach of evening, when the latter became ob- 
scured, and soon the mutterings of distant thunder 
and the flashes of lightning foreboded a storm at sea. 
The black clouds banked up against the wind, but 
when the wind changed, it bore down rapidly upon us, 
and there was more than one heart that quaked with 
fear of the angry elements. Egypt and Palestine, with 
all their un tasted sweets, would have been in this hour 
exchanged for a yellow cottage I knew of, far across 
the briny deep, on the east bank of America's Nile. 

The clouds were of inky blackness, the rain came 
down in torrents, the thunder was incessant ; and talk 
of chain lightning, sheet lightning, and the railroad 
map of Illinois depicted in the heavens, but I tell you 
we had the whole display here on the boards at one 
time. An electric shower ? Yes ; but the next one I 
am called on to witness I want to be on terra firma, 



342 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

with a cellar close by. Well, that storm occurred in 
the precise locality where the apostles, Paul and Luke, 
encountered the euroclydon when the former was on 
his way to Rome, a prisoner, more than eighteen hun- 
dred years ago. Of course this would bear no compar- 
ison to that. They were crowded into a smaller ves- 
sel, two hundred and seventy-six souls in all. 

It was before the discovery of the mariner's com- 
pass, and the storm raged with such fearful violence 
for fourteen days that they saw neither sun, moon, nor 
stars, and their terror was such that they ate nothing 
for the same length of time. Their vessel had put out 
from Alexandria with a cargo of wheat for some Ital- 
ian port. It was precisely the same time of year as 
when we encountered this storm. Contrary to Paul's 
advice, they left a good harbor at Crete — an island 
which we passed the next morning — and the captain, 
for his temerity, lost his cargo and his ship, for he 
drifted out of his course to the southwest, and in at- 
tempting to run into an inlet in the isle of Malta, the 
prow of the vessel ran ashore and the waves broke 
her in two. 

One seldom finds in literature an account of a storm 
at sea so brilliantly told, and in so few brief words, as 
the account given by St. Luke towards the close of the 
Acts of the Apostles. As I expect to quote a good 
deal of Scripture in the pages that follow, permit me 
to make a commencement now. Observe how Luke 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 343 

identifies himself with the crew of the ship, just as 
any of us would do in relating the circumstance, thus : 
" And when the ship was caught and could not bear 
up into the wind, we let her drive." 

Well, our storm continued. for about two hours, dur- 
ing which time our boat slowed up to two knots an 
hour, and blew her fog horn at intervals to avoid col- 
lision. The next day the sea was rough, and continued 
so up to the last day of the voyage, with an undertow 
that caused the ship to rise and sink in such a way as 
to bring discredit upon the " staying " qualities of my 
stomach. 

One evening at dusk, as I was writing in the cabin, 
my English fellow traveler came running to me with 
the pleasing intelligence that Alexandria was sighted 
and we should soon anchor. It was an indescribable 
sensation that crept over me when I mounted to the 
deck and beheld the distant lights of one of Egypt's 
famed cities. It was hard to realize that in the space 
of two brief hours my feet would be on terra firma, 
pressing the soil in the city of Cleopatra, in the land 
of the Pharaohs, washed by the waters of the Nile — 
Egypt's Nile. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 



ALEXANDRIA. 



As the entrance to the harbor of Alexandria is 
narrow and somewhat dangerous to navigate, vessels 
arriving after six o'clock are compelled to anchor out- 
side until the next morning. We should have been 
under the necessity of remaining on board the steamer 
another night but for the forethought of Cook's local 
agent, who sent a yawl, manned by five stalwart 
natives dressed in the style peculiar to oriental countries, 
who carefully handed us with our baggage into their 
craft, and in something like thirty minutes landed us 
at the custom house, where we were detained but a 
moment — the examination of baggage in our case being 
omitted. Usually, I am told, the search for dutiable 
articles is quite rigid. It was dark when we quit 
the steamer, and nine o'clock when we reached the 
Hotel Khedivial. However, we had a good opportunity 
as we drove through the crowded streets to obtain a 
first glimpse of oriental life. One always has strange 
emotions on setting foot, for the first time, in a land 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 345 

foreign to him, but this feeling is intensified when the 
country is remote and of an order of civilization so 
widely differing from that of his own land. 

There is little at Alexandria to be shown the tourist, 
but as it occupies the position of a vestibule, entered 
before going farther into Egypt and lower Palestine, 
one's first impressions of oriental life are had here, 
and the strange sights to be seen in the streets is novelty 
enough to compensate for a lack of antiquated wonders. 
Until this novelty has worn off, the traveler is perfectly 
satisfied to sit in the shade with the mercury at ninety- 
two and let the unique procession pass in review. 
Alexandria contains a population of over two hundred 
thousand people, one-fourth of whom are Europeans — 
mostly Greeks and Italians. At least ninety per cent 
of the male population wear the fez or turban. The 
English and American residents do not adopt this 
mark of distinction and national subserviency, but the 
Greeks and Italians seem to take a pride in wearing it. 

The natives remind me forcibly of our American 
Indians, particularly the Sioux tribe. They are tall, 
lithe, and muscular, and in passing through crowds of 
them I felt that peculiar, flesh-creeping sensation that 
one cannot resist when surrounded by either Indians 
or Chinese. Their complexion is of that variety of 
shape aptly, though inelegantly, expressed in the old- 
time couplet : 

" Some were black, some were blacker, 
Some were the color of a chaw-tobacker." 



346 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

but the black ones are not properly Egyptians; they 
are mostly natives of Nubia. The inhabitants of the 
lower order, as a rule, go barefooted, and hide their 
nakedness with a long gown that reaches nearly to the 
ankles. It is usually of white material, or what was 
once white ; though blue, yellow, and black are some- 
times worn. The middle and upper class wear a nether 
garment resembling bloomers, or of the pattern of 
the zouave trousers worn by a few regiments of our 
soldiers during the first year or two of the war. A 
short jacket, sometimes a robe, or a European coat, 
with red, yellow, or black shoes, and turban or fez com- 
pletes the picturesque, or if you prefer it, the grotesque 
costume. This description, of course, applies only to 
the male dress. The native women appear principally 
in black or blue, with their features concealed by a 
short veil, and a peculiar arrangement like a double 
spool placed between the eyes. Those of them whose 
faces I have seen had tattooed chins. Their resem- 
blance to the type of humanity known as " squaw " is 
striking. The children are mostly half-naked, dirty 
and sore-eyed. Blindness is quite prevalent, but men- 
dicancy is not as common as in Cork. 

The city is just recovering from the effects of the 
revolution and bombardment of 1882. What was con- 
sidered a great disaster at the time is proving to be a 
great benefit now. I have seen nowhere such magnifi- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 347 

cent buildings under construction as are nearing com- 
pletion in this city. 

We took a drive out to Pompey's Pillar, which is the 
leading attraction of Northern Egypt in the line of 
antiquities. It is a plain column, with a Corinthian 
capital, and stands on a base of heavy square blocks 
of red granite. The column is of the same material, 
hewn from one block sixty-seven feet in height, nine 
feet in diameter at the base, tapering slightly to eight 
feet at the top. Including base and capital it is one 
hundred and four feet high, and, to my eyes, far more 
imposing than the various obelisks I have seen in other 
lands. 

It is erroneous to suppose that it was named in 
honor of Pompey the Great. An inscription shows 
that it was named for the Roman prefect, Pompeius, 
who nourished some three centuries after the death of 
Pompey, who was murdered at Pelusium, east of here. 
Near by the column is an Arabian cemetery of consid- 
erable extent, but the walking was not good and we 
retraced our steps to the carriage and drove along by 
the border of the grand canal that brings the waters 
of the Nile past the city. Steamers and sailboats ply 
on its waters to Cairo, which is distant one hundred 
and twenty-eight miles. 

Perhaps the most striking feature to one who sees 
this land for the first time, is the groves of tall palm 
trees, with their drooping branches of red or yellow 



348 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

dates just ripening. It is a familiar sight here, and 
in the court yard of our hotel are as fine specimens as 
can be found anywhere. 

Our dragoman escorted us through a fine garden of 
great extent, where there was the largest grove I have 
yet seen. This garden contains also a large grove of 
bananas, well laden with fruit, and all manner of 
flowers, trees, shrubs and plants. It is irrigated by 
water from the Nile, without which, Egypt would be 
as the trackless desert. 

Returning to the city, we encountered strings of 
camels heavily loaded with wool and cotton, also 
droves of little donkeys with everything animate about 
them concealed except four nimble heels and two pro- 
jecting appendages in which Paddy tried to deposit the 
grain when told to feed the mule " corn in the ear." I 
had not yet taken my initial ride on one of the quad- 
rupeds ; time enough for that when the exigencies of 
the situation make it imperative. 

All the cattle I have seen thus far are the domesti- 
cated buffalo, and it was a novel sight to see large 
numbers of them taking refuge from the flies in the 
muddy waters of the canal, where often nothing was 
visible of them but their muzzle and peculiarly shaped 
horns. The butter we were served with for breakfast 
was buffalo butter — by any other name it would smell 
as rank. It is a fortunate circumstance for us that 
custom has decreed its usage at but one meal a day. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 349 

The fluid that is intended to whiten the coffee is 
drawn from the same source. Chalk and water would 
be an admirable substitute for it, but as it is permitted 
to offend our stomachs but once a day, we can imitate, 
on a reduced scale, the woman who said she was not 
overly fond of beer, but she guessed she could worry 
down a quart or two of it. 

We lay by in the heat of the day, and toward seve- 
ning followed our Arabian guide, who speaks five lan- 
guages, to the humbler portions of the city where the 
bazars are located. Here the streets are crowded, 
dirty, and filthy, and one gets a true conception of 
oriental life from a business standpoint. The stalls 
are rarely larger than eight by ten feet, and here the 
barter and sale and the various trades and occupa- 
tions of life are carried on. Separate quarters are as- 
signed to the different nationalities, but I could see but 
little difference in the methods pursued by each. The 
w T ork of artisans is performed in every instance in sit- 
ting posture, generally on the floor. It looked a little 
odd to see tinners, harness makers, and workers in 
hard wood, as well as in iron, working away diligently 
in such an attitude ; but their forefathers have done 
the same from time immemorial, and orientals are 
Bourbons, if they are anything. They neither forget 
nor learn. 

We expected to pick up some trifles to add to our ac- 
cumulations of bric-a-brac, but could find nothing of 



350 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

a distinctive feature confined to the limits of Al- 
exandria. Now, in the Swiss and Italian cities special- 
ties in the line of handicraft, not duplicated else- 
where, were always to be found. For instance, at 
Geneva they make a specialty of manufacturing by 
hand filigree silver and gold articles of virtu. In a 
certain portion of the city scarcely anything is car- 
ried on, except what pertains to this branch of indus- 
try, and the productions are exhibited in the most 
tempting manner, rarely failing to victimize the tou- 
rist, to which my purse can bear the diminished weight 
of its testimony. 

But there is a branch of industry followed in Alex- 
andria which, in financial and commercial importance, 
assumes far greater proportions than the production 
of trinkets, or of such articles as pander to the taste 
of wealth and refinement only, as conducted in the 
European cities. I allude to the manufacture of to- 
bacco into cigars and cigarettes, but principally the 
latter. On my first arrival in Europe I was impressed 
with the almost total abstinence of men from the use 
of chewing tobacco. In all my rambles thus far I 
have no recollection of ever seeing an individual, un- 
less he was an American, ejecting a stream of the 
dark liquid from his mouth, except one person — a 
boatman at Folkestone. Smoking is largely the prac- 
tice everywhere, but here it is the universal custom 
and not confined to the lords of creation. 



FROM XILE TO NILE. 351 

Tobacco is the open sesame that admits the govern- 
ments, of the earth to the gold and silver treasures of 
the people. It is the lamp of Aladdin that requires 
but the touch of power, and the magic word of law, to 
fill the coffers of a nation's treasury. It is a cloud by 
day and a pillar of fire by night to lead misguided na- 
tions from the desert of bankruptcy into the delectable 
land of solvency. 

It was a baleful genii who stretched out his hand to 
the north and south of our land and whispered, " Here 
are the sinews of war; fight on." America, England, 
France, Germany, Italy and Egypt, all involved in 
exhausting wars within the last twenty-five years, are 
discharging their war debts largely by the revenues 
received from the sale of the weed. In all the foreign 
countries named, the customs law is more rigidry en- 
forced against tobacco than any other commodity. The 
tariff, except in England, is high, and in France, Ger- 
many , and Italy the government has the monopoly of its 
sale. It is a difficult matter to procure a good cigar 
anywhere, and the smoking tobacco is simply vile. 
Neither cabbage nor tobacco has any affinity for the 
other, and the latter, I fear, fell into bad company, and 
must bear the opprobrium that attaches from associa- 
tion with the impure. Egypt imports the leaf in large 
quantities from Turkey. The import duty is low, 
from ten to fifteen per cent, and the best cigarettes in 
the world, of pure Turkish leaf, are manufactured 



352 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

here extensively — principally by the Greek residents. 
The best quality retail at from eighty cents to one 
dollar and sixty cents per hundred. In Naples a 
friend of mine paid four dollars a hundred for what 
would cost one dollar here. 

With regard to works of art, Alexandria is about nil. 
There is only one piece of statuary that is public 
property, the equestrian statue of Mohammet Ali, 
which stands in the Place Mehemet Ali, near the scene 
of the principal destruction in 1882. Much opposition 
was encountered from the Moslem leaders when it was 
proposed to erect it, as the Mohammedan religion 
strictly forbids such representations of the human 
form. However, the " doctors " were mollified when it 
was placed in position with the face toward Mecca. 
The statue is a bronze, sixteen feet high, and stands 
on a pedestal of Tuscan marble twenty feet in height. 

Perhaps it would be unfair to close this chapter on 
Alexandria, without inquiring somewhat into its ancient 
history. It was laid out by Alexander the Great, B. 
C. 332. He died before it attained much importance ; 
but one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter, son of Lagis, 
became its Macedonian governor, and, about thirty 
years after it was founded, assumed dictatorial powers 
over the kingdom, and made Alexandria its capital. 
He was the founder of the Ptolemy dynasty, that 
ruled Egypt successively for a period of two hundred 
and seventy-five years. Under him and the two 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 353 

successive inonarchs, Alexandria grew to be not only 
the leading commercial city in the world, but the seat 
of learning, for a time even eclipsing Athens. 

One of the last kings of Egypt belonging to this 
family was Ptolemy XIII., nicknamed the flute player. 
He left three children, Ptolemy XIV., Cleopatra VII., 
and a younger brother. He willed that the elder 
brother and sister should many (as was the sometime 
Egyptian custom) and share the throne jointly, sub- 
ject, however, to the confirmation of the Roman sen- 
ate. At this time Egypt stood in the same relation to 
Rome that she does to-day to Turkey. TJie marriage 
was duly consummated and confirmed, and in a brief 
time brother and sister, husband and wife, were fight- 
ing like two Kilkenny cats. The king banished the 
lovely queen, which called for the interposition of 
Julius Caesar who landed on the coast and took sides 
in the famity quarrel with the abused wife. Then the 
god-like Caesar fell a willing victim to the charms of 
the syren, who was soon to become a widow by the 
drowning of her husband in the Xile. The younger 
brother then shared the regency under the title of 
Ptolemy XV. But it did not accord with the wishes 
of his ambitious sister, and she had him murdered. 
The next co-regent was Ptolemy XVI., her own 
illegitimate son, by Julius Caesar. Licentious himself, 
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. Caesar's man- 

23 



354 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tie, in this respect, is worn by many a man of our own 
day and generation. 

After the assassination of Csesar, Marc Antony was 
assigned to the command of the Roman legions in the 
orient, and having summoned Cleopatra to meet him 
at Tarsus for some offense she had committed contrary 
to the will of the senate, met a fate that has befallen 
many a better man, but seldom so good a general. The 
spell she cast upon him was one he was never able to 
throw off. 

For eleven years he reveled in her charms ; and 
when at last the Roman senate, growing weary of his 
continued debauch, declared him an enemy of Rome 
and sent an army under Octavius (afterward dubbed 
Caesar Augustus) to reduce him to submission, he suf- 
fered defeat at Actium, and after the battle committed 
suicide. The victors marched into Alexandria, and 
Cleopatra, whether through despair at Marc Antony's 
untimely death, or to escape the degradation of being 
carried a prisoner to Rome and made a spectacle of in 
the triumphal procession of Octavius, resorted to a 
painless death — the deadly poison of the asp. Thus 
went down to shame and disgrace the dynasty of the 
Ptolemies, in which none other that has existed will 
compare in longevity, brilliancy, crime and utter 
shamelessness. 

From this time Alexandria declined, and though it 
was a great city for centuries afterwards, it never 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 355 

regained its ascendency ot the days of the early 
Ptolemies, when it reached a population of over half 
a million. In the dark ages it came near being 
wiped out, at one time the population being reduced 
to less than six thousand. Under European patronage 
it has become the leading maritime city of the Medi- 
terranean, and if the wheels of progress are not 
clogged by Mohammedan bigotry and interference, the 
chances are that it will be the leading maritime city 
in the Eastern Hemisphere, if we except Liverpool 
alone. 

History records that the body of Alexander the 
Great was brought hither from Babylon and buried in 
the tomb of the kings in the city which he had 
founded. 



CHAPTER XLIY. 



JAFFA LYDD A — RAMLEH JERUSALEM . 



We left Alexandria on the fourteenth by a steamer 
of the Austrian Lloyd line arrived at Jaffa — the 
ancient Joppa — on Sunday morning. On the steamer 
we met Bishop Beckwith, of Georgia, his daughter, a 
lady from Bloomington, Illinois, and another from 
New York, bound for Beirut, from whence they would 
go to Damascus and journey southward to Jerusalem. 
As the entire distance from Beirut is performed on 
horseback over a rugged mountainous country exposed 
to the scorching rays of the sun, they have my sympa- 
thy — for with the little experience I have gained of 
traveling in Palestine, I have no desire to extend my 
journey any farther than the Jordan and Dead Sea. 

During the passage from Alexandria to Jaffa, 
nothing worthy of special note occurred. We passed 
the delta of the Nile in daylight, where it empties its 
muddy waters and commingles them with the blue 
Mediterranean at Bosetta and Damietta. The second 
day out we entered the harbor at Port Said, and 
remained there discharging and taking on freight for 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 357 

about twelve hours ; as we return to this port en route 
to Cairo, we thought it not worth our while to go 
ashore. 

Jaffa, while it is an important commercial city, has 
no harbor worthy of the name. The ship anchored 
one-half mile from shore, and Cook'-s yawl came out 
to meet us as at Alexandria. Even the yawl could 
not quite reach the land, but two strong Arabs 
waded into the water and carried us in their arms the 
few intervening steps. Thence we wended our way on 
foot over loose timbers, rocks and rubbish, through a 
steep, narrow, and filthy street, occupied on either side 
by warehouses. Strings of camels and men on donkeys 
claimed the right of way, to the utter disgust of the 
pilgrims; but the discomfort was of short duration, for 
at the end of this thoroughfare we found Cook's carriage 
in waiting, which rapidly conveyed us to the inn of 
mine host, Herr Hardregg, a German. Here we found 
rest and refreshment before venturing out in the blazing 
sun to visit the house of Simon, the tanner, where Peter 
fell into a trance, "And saw heaven opened, and a certain 
vessel descended unto him, as it had been a great sheet, 
knit at the four corners and let down to the earth ; 
wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the 
earth, and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls 
of the air. And there came a voice to him : Rise, 
Peter, kill and eat." The significance of which was 
that the law of Moses was now superseded by that of 



358 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Christ. With it vanished the efficacy of circumcision, 
the prohibition of certain fleshly diet, and the exclu- 
siveness of the Jews as God's peculiar people. Hence- 
forth salvation was to be free without regard to race, 
color, or previous condition. "And it came to pass 
that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon, a 
tanner." 

Our guide conducted us through the market reeking 
with filth and bad odors, through narrow, crooked 
streets, where a loaded camel would have been wedged 
between the houses ; down several steps that led to a 
Greek church ; then further on through the stifling air 
to a one-story stone house, where a large wooden door 
showing the marks of age and decay was thrown open, 
and admitted us to the traditional house, or, rather the 
spot of ground on which the house of Simon, the tan- 
ner, stood ; for it is not claimed that this is the identi- 
cal house where Peter had the vision, but that the 
present one, which is quite ancient, occupies the pre- 
cise location and is a duplicate of the former one. 
The custodian was a blind Moslem, and one of the 
rooms, in which no Christian is permitted to set foot, 
is devoted to his use as a house of prayer. Its location 
agrees with the site recorded by Luke ; and the old 
well, where the natives were filling their goat skins 
with water drawn from a great depth, leaves but little 
doubt that tradition, in this respect, is correct; for 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 359 

what would be more natural than that one engaged in 
tanning should have a well of his own ? 

Now, wells are not numerous in this land ; they are 
so rare, in fact, that water is peddled out for drinking 
purposes to the inhabitants. I drank of the water of 
this well, but whilst it was cool, it had a brackish taste 
as though it percolated through from the sea. Close 
by the well are the stone steps leading to the house top — 
an admirable place to sleep, if the sun is not shining. 
Standing here and craning the neck to the left and sea- 
wards, one gets a glimpse of the rock where some in- 
ventive genius of a by-gone period — Pliny, I believe 
— locates the mythical episode where, at the command 
of Neptune, Andromeda is chained to the rock to be 
devoured by a sea serpent, as horrible in conception 
as some modern liars have conjured up as infesting 
our own shores. Kingsley thus expatiates in his 
inimitable style on this fancied occurrence perpetuated 
in the stars forever : 

"On came the great sea monster, coasting along like 
a huge black galley, lazily breasting the ripple, and 
stopping at times by creek or headland to watch for 
the laughter of girls at their bleaching or cattle paw- 
ing on the sand-hills or boys bathing on the beach. 
His great sides were fringed with clustering shells and 
sea-weeds, and the water gurgled in and out of his 
wide jaws as he rolled along dripping and glistening 
in the morning sun. At last he saw Andromeda and 
shot forward to take his prey, while the waves foamed 
white behind him, and before him the fish fled, leaping. 

" Then down from the height of the air fell Perseus 



360 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

like a shooting-star — down the crest of the waves, 
while Andromeda hid her face as he shouted. And 
then there was silence for a while. 

"At last she looked up trembling, and saw Perseus 
springing toward her; and instead of the monster, a 
long, black rock, with the sea rippling quietly around 
it." 

Recurring to Holy Writ, we find that Joppa 
figures in that remarkable event received with so 
much derision now-a-days, irreverently called the 
whale story. " But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tar- 
shish from the presence of the Lord, and went down 
to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish, so he 
paid the fare thereof and went down into it." 

As this is the seaport of Jerusalem to-day, so it was 
in the days of King Solomon. Hiram, king of Tyre, 
in a letter to Solomon, says : And we will cut wood 
out of Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need, and we 
will bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa ; and 
thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem." Now, there is a 
wagon road from Joppa to Jerusalem, and it is about 
the only one, so far as I can learn, in this part of Pal- 
estine. We came over it and I have no hesitation in 
saying it is the most execrable road in existence. 
There is but little doubt that the timbers for the tem- 
ple came by this route, and I wondered what motive 
power Solomon used to transport them. 

At Joppa I saw them strapping heavy timbers on 
the backs of camels, likewise lumber for building pur- 



FROM NILE TO VILE. 361 

poses. I have not seen a wagon in Palestine strong 
enough to bear up a heavy load of lumber, and the 
hills are so steep and the curves so short that the con- 
clusion seemed irresistible that the " ships of the des- 
ert " have borne them hither. The wording of Hiram's 
letter would seem to confirm this view, as he uses the 
word " carry " instead of haul. 

Jaffa has been subject to many changes. It was 
anciently a Phoenician colony in the land of the Philis- 
tines, but successively fell into the hands of the Jews, 
Greeks, and Romans. In the wars of the crusades it 
belonged to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, but 
was captured by Saladin, and subsequently, though in 
the same century, the twelfth, was retaken by Richard 
,of the Lionheart, of England, only to be recaptured 
by the Saracens. Towards the close of the eighteenth 
century it was a city of some importance, surrounded 
by a stone wall, portions of whieh are still standing. 
For some days it withstood an attack from the French 
under Kleber, one of. Napoleon's generals. On being 
promised clemency, the city capitulated, but on the arri- 
val of Napoleon he disregarded the terms accorded, 
and marched four hundred of the captured down to 
the seashore and had them shot. The place where 
this occurred is still pointed out. It is said, but with 
what truth I know not, that his army was here smit- 
ten with the plague, and in order to stay its ravages 
he ordered everyone afflicted with it to be poisoned. 



362 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

If the remedy was not Mephistophelean it was at least 
Napoleonic, terms sometimes synonymous. 

In 1866 a colony from America, consisting of sixty- 
six persons, under the leadership of one Adams, 
located at Jaffa. Adams proved recreant to the trust 
confided in him by his followers, and after victimizing 
them in a shameful manner fled to America where he 
died. The steamer that conveyed Mark Twain to 
these shores bore away others, so that the colony has 
now dwindled down to six persons, of whom one was 
our guide to the house of Simon, the tanner. Another 
one, Mr. Clarke, formerly of New Hampshire, is the 
very efficient agent of Thomas Cook & Son, at Jerusa- 
lem. A German colony settled here has been better 
handled. They number two hundred and fifty souls 
and seem to be prosperous and contented. I have 
observed that the German plant bears transplanting 
better than that of any other nationality under the 
sun, and in whatever land they may be placed, they 
always show evidence of thrift. 

There is another class of people here who are 
worthy of brief mention, hailing from Africa. Their 
thick lips, woolly heads, flat noses and black skins 
denote their Nubian origin. They live in squalor and 
filth, but they are endowed with the most remarkable 
strength — muscular strength, I mean — that has ever 
come under my notice. Their occupation seems to be 
that of porter, and by the aid of a strap or rope 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 363 

passing around the forehead and securing the load 
piled on their backs, one will carry, from the landing 
to the hotel, a burden sufficient for a camel. They 
think nothing of packing in this manner from four to six 
hundred pounds a half-mile or more without resting, 
with the mercmy away up in the nineties. 

We tarried but a brief spell in Jaffa, when, after 
securing a dragoman or conductor we took our seats 
in a hack for Jerusalem, intending to spend the night 
at Ramleh, distant twelve miles from our starting 
point. We found our dragoman to be a perfect jewel ; 
he is a native of Jerusalem, born of Jewish parents, 
but a very devout Protestant Christian, who has the 
Bible at his tongue's end, and is a walking encyclopedia 
in all that relates to this wonderful land. Though not 
a classical scholar he speaks nine different languages 
— the English quite fluently. His manner is kind and 
obliging, and the slightest wish expressed by us is 
gratified without a demur. We feel very kindly 
towards Abraham Lyons ; he saves us all the annoyance 
of paying " backsheesh." With a simple wave of the 
hand the beggars slink away from our presence, though 
all are not refused "backsheesh," he seems to know 
just the right place to apply it. 

We struck out through a narrow, dusty road, the 
long string of laden camels and pack mules giving us 
the right of way this time. For two or three miles we 
passed by successive orange groves surrounded by 



364 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

hedges of gigantic prickly pears. At a well, where a 
mosque had been erected, we halted for a moment 
while Lyons explained that this was the traditional 
burial place of Dorcas, whom Peter restored to life. 
She was a resident of Joppa, a disciple, and had 
endeared herself to the people by making garments 
for the poor. A little further on and we entered the 
Plains of Sharon. ''And Sharon shall be a fold of 
flocks and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to 
lie down in," sings Isaiah. On the left of our road, 
but some distance away, we were pointed out the 
village of Lydda, where Peter healed iEneas, the 
palsied man. And here, also, is located that marvel- 
lous event, mythical as it perhaps is, but of such 
general belief among ancient christians as to have been 
adopted as a device for the shields of Great Britian, 
Russia and Genoa. How many have gone down under 
the scimiter of the fierce Saracen with the battle cry 
on their lips of "St. George and our Lady." 

St. George and the dragon formed a prolific subject 
in mediaeval days for troubadour, painter and sculptor. 
It has not grown obsolete yet, for in our own country 
St. George and the dragon are made to do duty on 
labels and patent medicine advertisements as a kind of 
trade mark. However, we turn not aside to Lydda 
but keep the more direct road to Eamleh, whose 
celebrated tower of the twelfth century looms up in 
the distance ; we leave the road in order to reach it, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 365 

and passing on foot through a large Moslem burial 
ground are soon gazing in admiration at this beautiful 
and well preserved ruin ; reminding me much of 
Blarney castle. All around are ruins of a huge 
monastery which stamp it as of the crusaders. It lies on 
the edge of Eamleh and barring earthquakes, judging 
from the solidity and synmietry, looks as if it might 
stand forever. The Moslems once erected a minaret 
on the top of it, but that part is now in a tumble- 
down condition. 

Going back to our seats in the hack, we soon after 
drove into Eamleh and quartered for the night at the 
excellent inn of Herr Binehart. Before retiring for 
the night there were many arrivals, and a motley 
group we all presented — Americans, English, Germans, 
Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Turks and Arabs. 
Some departed that night for Jerusalem, and the next 
morning, bright and early, we followed suit. Eamleh 
is not a scriptural town, but they claim that it is the 
birthplace of Joseph, of Arimathea. The Latin 
monastery occupies the supposed site of his house. 
The once ubiquitous Napoleon slept here. The city 
was founded in the eighth century and was long a bone 
of contention between the Crusaders and Saracens. It 
once outranked Jerusalem in population — was well 
fortified and supplied with water works of that period. 
It now numbers about four thousand people, nearly all 
of whom are Moslems, the exception being those con- 



366 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

nected officially with the Greek and Latin churches. 
In Palestine the Eoman Catholic church is distin- 
guished as the Latin church. 

The road between Jaffa and the Holy City, as I 
stated before, is in a wretched condition. It was orig- 
inally made of boulders and cobble stones. From time 
to time it has been repaired only in spots, where it 
now presents a smooth surface. At the present time 
it is undergoing extensive repairs, there being not less 
than two thousand iVrabs at work along its line. They 
have been eighteen years at work on it, and you will 
not wonder at the snail's pace with which progress is 
made when I tell you that not a single wagon, cart, 
wheelbarrow, or shovel, can be found in use along the 
entire road. In many places the old grade over which 
we traveled is to be abandoned for another, which is 
completed only in patches. This requires much labor, 
considering that the larger stones used for bridging 
and walling are packed on donkeys, and the smaller 
stones, and all the earth, are carried in small baskets 
on the heads and shoulders of the Arabs. The only 
tools in use are the pick, hoe, chisel, and stone hammer. 
A part of the new road near Jerusalem is as hand- 
some a piece of roadway as I ever saw, and when it is 
thrown open for travel will diminish by that much the 
difficulties one encounters in reaching here. Along 
the road, at intervals, are watch towers constructed of 
stone, as this road has frequently been infested with 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 367 

robbers, sometimes requiring an army to disperse them. 
This system of guard houses has been instituted and 
seems to work well. The mounted patrols are to be 
seen almost any hour of the day. 

Out from Ramleh a few miles the guide pointed to 
some ruins on a distant hill. This was once the an- 
cient Canaanitish city of Gezer, which Pharaoh pre- 
sented to his son-in-law, King Solomon, as his wife's 
dowry. You see, if a king had no dowry for his 
daughter when she was to be given away in marriage, 
he put on his war paint, mustered his army, went into 
the domain of a weaker king, and stole a city. That 
is just what Pharaoh, king of Egypt, did. Presently 
we pass the half-ruined village of Latrun, where, tra- 
dition says, was once the home of the penitent thief, 
Dimas, who suffered with Christ on the cross. 

Ity this time the sun was becoming uncomfortably 
warm, and we were delighted when our accommodat- 
ing guide informed us that we were about to stop at a 
wayside inn for rest and luncheon. This was just at 
the entrance of Babel-wady, or gate of the valley, a 
pass which led into the mountains of Judah and Ben- 
jamin, over which we were destined to have a long, 
rough, tedious ride. However, we took it as it came, 
and after a rest of two hours, more for the sake of the 
horses than ourselves, we resumed the journey. 

The mountainous road all the way now to Jerusalem 
passes over a country destitute of everything else 



368 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

except here and there a struggling orchard of olive 
trees, which seem to thrive best in scanty soil, and a 
few stunted bushes, not destitute, however, of rocks, 
of volcanic formation. We pass an extensive village 
on our right called Abu Ghosh, once the roost of a 
powerful band of robbers who nourished about the 
year 1813. The gang consisted of seven brothers and 
their descendants, and they were the terrors of all 
pilgrims until crushed by the Egyptian government. 
This village, it is claimed by some, was anciently 
called Kirjath Jearim and was the place where the ark 
of the covenant was deposited for a long period. 

Farther on, was another robbers' roost, rather pictur- 
esquely situated on a steep hillside. A brook flows 
through a narrow valley here and on its banks is a 
pleasant resort where we dismounted and took a cup 
of delicious Turkish coffee. A fine stone bridge spans 
the brook, and here, it is said, occurred the encounter 
between David and Goliath. The hills on both sides 
of the narrow valley are steep and rocky, but, withal, 
so terraced, as to furnish admirable seats for the 
friends of the respective champions to sit out of 
harm's way and witness the tournament. There are 
just such pebbles in the brook as a slingist of David's 
proficiency would be likely to select. I could picture to 
my own mind these hill sides alive with onlookers, 
the Philistines defiant and confident of success, the 
Israelites with blanched faces and quaking hearts, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 369 

waiting for the momentous result which would place 
them at the mercy of their foes, or release them from 
a nightmare of terror, and give the "little captain" 
the first place in the affections of the people. Still 
this may not have been the historic spot, but like 
every thing in the Holy Land, we must take it on trust. 
I am prepared to believe all I see and hear, even to 
the finding of the true cross in an old cistern by St. 
Helena — the mother of Constantine, in the fourth 
century. 

Soon we began to ascend that long, rough, zig-zag 
hill on the approach to Mount Zion. Formerly, when 
I read the expression "going up to Jerusalem" I 
construed it in the same sense as I would make use of 
the expression " going up to Valley Center;" but 
the approaches to the Holy City are of that character 
that the mind should grasp the idea in the sense of 
"going up Pike's Peak." From the summit of the hill 
just described there is an incline down a short ways to 
Jerusalem. Here we pass a number of modern build- 
ings, some in process of construction, and in a few 
minutes are at Jaffa gate — one of the main entrances 
to the city. We dismount outside of the walls, and 
pass through the gate down the street of David to our 
hotel, which stands on Mount Zion close by the pool 
of Hezekiah, and not a great way from the Holy 
Sepulchre, where after a journey of only forty miles, 
but thrice that distance considering the fatigue one has 

34 



370 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

to undergo, we pull ourselves together and try to 
realize that we are in the city of the Great King. 



CHAPTER XLV. 



IMPRESSIONS OF JERUSALEM. 



Many of the drawbacks with which people here have 
to contend are attributed to the mismanagement of the 
Turkish government. Internal and harbor improve- 
ments are discouraged, and without these it is useless 
to expect people whose minds are still groping in the 
gloom of the dark ages to emerge into the broad day- 
light of the civilization of the nineteenth century. 
But despite the many discouragements that block the 
wheels of progress, the condition of things is not as 
lamentable as it might be. Jaffa, without a harbor, is 
rapidly increasing in population, and Jerusalem, with- 
out a railroad, or highway worthy of the name, has 
advanced from thirty-five thousand people, in 1876, to 
fifty-five thousand, ten years later. The Jews, fleeing 
from persecution in Europe, are emigrating here, which 
is shown by the fact, that they have no less than one 
hundred and fifty synagogues in this city alone. I am 
indebted to our consul, Mr. Gillman, for this, and much 
other valuable information. 



372 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The peculiarities of Jerusalem, differing from any 
other city I have visited, are quite marked. The 
houses, for instance, are built with the almost total 
disuse of either lumber or iron. The walls, floors, and 
ceilings are stone ; the roof, tiling and stone. By the 
use of the arch they dispense with joists and rafters- 
The quadrilateral arch of the top story causes the pe- 
culiar and not unpleasing dome-shaped roof so com- 
mon all over Palestine. Again, there are neither 
available water works nor wells in Jerusalem, but the 
rain water, during the rainy season, is collected in 
cisterns, and I am told that a supply for three years 
can be husbanded in one season, if considered neces- 
sary. All the water we have been drinking is more 
than six months old, and it is as pure, clear, and sweet 
as when it fell from the clouds. Every family has its 
cistern, but when the supply runs short, it is supplied 
by the water peddlers, who carry it on their backs in 
goat skins, and these goat skins are quite an institu- 
tion in themselves. I don't know just exactly how they 
are prepared, but the hair is left on, and the body, vent, 
and legs are sewed up, the neck being left open. When 
filled this is tied, and the goat skin then presents a 
plumper appearance than when it performed its normal 
functions. A skin of water can be purchased for about 
six cents, but an American would have to be as dry as 
a fish on land before he could be induced to slake his 
thirst at such a fountain. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 373 

This is a city within whose walls the rumble of 
carriage wheels is never heard. The streets are mere 
alleys, the Jewish quarters being the filthiest and 
loudest smelling neighborhood that ever shocked the 
sensibilities of the writer. The business streets are 
crooked and ill paved. The street of David, com- 
mencing at the Jaffa gate, runs nearly due east for 
half a mile to the so-called Mosque of Omar on the 
supposed sight of Solomon's temple. It is about 
twenty feet wide and is traversed by terraces or stone 
steps, each about ten inches high and eight feet deep. 
On each side are shops — customers in every instance 
making their purchases from the outside. There are 
no sidewalks, and pedestrians take the middle of the 
street along with the camels and donkeys, and it 
requires one to be always on the lookout to avoid 
being jostled or brought to his senses by feeling 
the hot breath of a camel in his face, or being scraped 
by the burdens with which they are loaded. 

On this street is the grain market, and one can 
but be impressed by the method in which business is 
transacted. The stock in trade usually consists of a 
few sacks of wheat or barley, or sometimes a heap 
containing ten or fifteen bushels. Here one learns the 
true significance of gospel measure " pressed down and 
shaken together, and running over shall men give 
into your bosom." I have seen the vender fill up the 
measure with wheat, then shake it dowai and pile it on 



374 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

again until not another grain would stay on. Then he 
would deftly dump it into his customer's bosom. That 
may seem a strange receptacle, but in the mode of 
dress worn, which has not varied for perhaps three 
thousand years, it can be well adapted to the purpose. 
If one cares to study the Bible and obtain a true con- 
ception of it historically he must come to Palestine; 
everything here is made subordinate to its teachings ; 
and, though the Moslems confine themselves to the 
reading of the Koran, they believe in Christ as a 
prophet, and respect the Old Testament. In their 
devotion they are quite exemplary. 

There is an atmosphere of sanctity about the Holy 
City that must impress the most skeptical. But 
few visitors come here except on a pilgrimage; and 
even tourists, as a rule, are in sympathy with some, 
branch of the church ; and while they are perhaps 
neither fanatical nor even worshippers, yet the tenor of 
their conversation is invariably connected with relig- 
ious subjects. The total absence of amusements and 
frivolous recreation hedges up the lives of the people 
here within a narrow compass — that of business and 
religion, and the two terms are almost made synony- 
mous. 

There are no less than thirty-two monasteries, and 
this, in connection with the mosques of the Moslems, 
and the churches of the various Protestant denomina- 
tions, will give you some idea of the ponderous ma- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 375 

chinery (if I may use the term) in use to perpetuate 
the various creeds, and exercise an influence on all 
who come within the scope of their teachings. Now, 
this influence is by no means confined to the dwellers 
at Jerusalem, for hither flock from all parts of the 
Christian world, as well as from a large part of the 
Moslem domain, pilgrims in vast numbers, whose offer- 
ings and stipulated fees fill the coffers of the Greek, 
Latin, Armenian, and Copt churches, and support all 
those vast establishments which, without this moral 
and material aid, would wither up like Jonah's gourd. 
The same might be said with truth of the Jewish syn- 
agogues and Moslem mosques. They are all fostered 
by foreign aid. 

The Protestant following is very insignificant. A few, 
the Adventists, are here from a solemn sense of con- 
viction that the time of the second coming of Christ is 
at hand, and that it behooves them to meet Him in the 
Valley of Jehoshaphat. I am not so sure but that they 
believe He has already come, and that henceforth they 
are without sin. Another denomination with views 
equally peculiar is the Hoffmanites, or German colony, 
numbering here and at Jaffa and Nazareth some 
three hundred families. If I have a correct under- 
standing of their religious belief, it is this : They be- 
lieve in God, but reject the sonship of Christ. They 
claim descent from the seven thousand who refused to 
bow the knee to Baal, and their mission in Palestine is 



376 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

to reconstruct the temple. They have a nice village 
out on the Bethlehem road, about one mile from the 
wall of the city. The Episcopal church ranks high, 
having at last secured a Bishop. Of course, it is fos- 
tered by the English government, but in the way of 
schools and hospitals it is doing a good work. 

The schools of Jerusalem are numerous and, from 
what I can learn, receive much support from abroad. 
Almost every denomination has its separate institu- 
tion, some of which are merely nurseries of their pa- 
tron church. I noticed one day a long file of lads 
dressed in European costumes, accompanied by their 
tutor, reminding me much of similar sights in England. 
This was a Jewish school. Another day I passed a 
school-room crowded with barefooted youngsters, all 
seated on the floor with little shovel-shaped boards in 
their hands, on which were inscribed their lessons. 
The tutor was also seated on the floor with a red fez 
on his head. This was the Arabic school. 

Near by was a court of law, which I had the temer- 
ity to enter and witness the Moslems " dispense with 
justice." The three judges were natives, and looked 
as wise as a township " squire." There was little nov- 
elty in their proceedings, and I walked across an ill 
smelling court yard to where the Supreme Court was 
sitting. At least, I inferred it was supreme, for I no- 
ticed barristers, and all others, taking off their shoes 
— those who wore any — and putting on slippers. I 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 377 

looked in at the door and noticed only the presiding 
judge, a patriarchal looking man, who sat cross-legged 
on a divan, wearing the inevitable turban. The Mos- 
lems say we begin everything at the wrong side. For 
example, as a mark of respect or reverence we take 
off the hat. They uncover the reverse end, by taking 
off the shoes. We write from left to right. They re- 
verse the order again and write from right to left. 
Our consul tells me he finds but few brainy men 
amongst them. He describes them as athletes physi- 
cally and as dwarfs mentally. He says our mission- 
aries all dislike them, but, for his part, he naturally 
loves them. They are kind hearted and obliging, pa- 
tient and good humored, and, in many respects, resem- 
ble the Irish on their native bogs. 

I was introduced to the sheik, or chieftain, of a 
powerful band of Bedouins, who roam the country be- 
yond the Jordan. He was dressed in rough attire — 
well, when I come to think of it, it would not be truth- 
ful to say he was dressed at all, for the Bedouins, this 
time of the year, appear principally in the fig leaf cos- 
tume. However, he wore a turban and carried a gun, 
and his thigh was adorned by a cruel-looking, long- 
handled knife, but he was the personification of all 
that my preconceived ideas of a chieftain of the seed 
of Ishmael ought to be; tall and straight, as a pine, 
broad shouldered, brawny, and with a fist that would 
fell an ox, dark skinned, and bearded like a pard — you 



378 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

may know what that is, I don't. He remarked that 
it was a warm day ; at least I took it for granted that 
such was his salutation, for he accompanied the re- 
mark with an attempt to wipe the sweat from his 
manly brow, and, as pantomime is the only foreign 
language I am proficient in, it was so interpreted. I 
agreed with him, wrung his hand, and promised to see 
him later. I would not care to meet him alone on the 
sands of the desert. 

My dragoman says the father of this sheik is living 
at the age of one hundred and fifteen years. Moses 
was hale and hearty when, at the age of one hundred 
and twenty, he stood on Mount Nebo, in plain view 
of Zion's Hill where I write this, and closed his 
earthly career, but not by reason of old age. I am 
told that these Bedouins often reach the age of Moses 
before being buried with their fathers. 

Notwithstanding the air of sanctity that pervades 
this place, I am occasionally under the delusion that I 
am in the midst of a military camp. Opposite the 
south window of my room looms up the grand citadel 
of David, whose foundations were laid thousands of 
years ago. Annexed to it are the Turkish barracks and 
guard house. Every morning the guards march 
by going to their respective stations. The reveille 
awakes me in the morning, and tattoo and taps are 
blown in the evenings with that degree of regularity 
that used to make some of us tired. In the afternoon 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 379 

the band plays. When discoursing Turkish music 
we are delighted with its novelty, but when they 
attempt a foreign air the effect on one's nerves is 
equalled only by a Wichita band beating up for a dime 
museum. The Turkish soldier will' compare favorably 
in height with the French and Italian. The uniform 
at this season consists of a greyish blue cotton sack 
coat and trousers on the '"European plan," with the 
fez for a headgear. On guard, they present anything 
but a soldierly appearance. I heard an English 
officer laughing at one of the guards who laid down 
his gun, and slipping off a boot went on a voyage of 
discovery after an aggressive flea. The poor wretches 
are paid little or nothing, and the officers are not 
much better off, receiving for their services paper 
currency which the government refuses to redeem and 
the money shavers will discount only by coaxing, at 
fifty per cent. The principal duty of the Turkish 
soldier stationed at Jerusalem seems to be, to keep 
peace between the contending factions of Christian at 
the holy places. 

At the Church of the Nativity, only fourteen feet 
from the manger where our Savior was born, I 
observed a soldier on guard, and on asking why he 
was stationed there of all places in the world was told, 
"to keep the peace between the Christians," who, 
without such precaution being taken, would come to 
blows at the drop of a hat. It has required armed 



380 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

interference more than once to separate these fanatics. 
The keys of the Holy Sepulchre, where the various 
sects have each a chapel, are in the custody of two 
or three Moslem sheiks, who occupy a divan near the 
main entrance. 

I was told that in Palestine any epicurean propen- 
sities of mine in the way of variety of food would be 
subjected to serious denial. I confess to a disappoint- 
ment in being deprived of ice ; and as for butter — well, 
Alexandria destroyed my taste for that, so that I have 
been forced to seek the acquaintance of dry bread. 

After getting a good look at the cattle of this country, 
descendents of those famous herds of Jacob, I presume, 
that adorned once a thousand hills, I concluded to 
discard beef also. This reduced the bill of fare to 
mutton and fowl. As I don't relish the former, and 
the very sight of stewed poulet brings on nausea, I am 
compelled to subsist principally on grapes. They are 
abundant here and delicious. Pomegranates are in 
large supply, but they are an "acquired taste'' and 
life is short. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



THE HOLY SEPULCHRE THE GREEK FESTIVAL OF THE 

HOLY FIRE. 



I had not been in Palestine many hours before I be- 
gan to realize the difficulty of ascertaining beyond dis- 
pute where fact ended and speculation commenced. 
Almost every object of interest here is wrought in un- 
certainty, and one finds himself groping in the dark 
after the truth, notwithstanding the labors to elucidate 
the same by careful archaeologists. 

Hundreds of volumes have been written in the vain 
effort to establish theories that would stand the test 
of the Bible account, and in other respects carry con- 
viction with them, as to the precise location where the 
startling events, closing with the ascension of Christ, 
actually took place ; but after all has been said and 
done, one is compelled to exercise more than a modi- 
cum of blind faith in accepting for truth the numerous 
places pointed out as genuine. 

Now, take the Holy Sepulchre for instance, for the 
possession of which rivers of blood have been shed. 



382 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

In a limited space, containing an area of less than half 
that comprised in one of our city blocks, the great and 
awful tragedy of the crucifixion is located. Here, under 
one roof — the church of the Holy Sepulchre — is shown 
the spot where the three crosses were erected, the place 
of anointment, designated by a marble slab, where pil- 
grims bring material and take the measurement for 
their own winding sheet ; also, the place from which 
the women witnessed the ceremony. 

Beneath the dome stands the chapel of Angels and 
the Holy Sepulchre. The two combined occupy a 
space of about sixteen by twenty -two feet and sixteen 
feet in height. Entering the first named chamber, we 
observed a marble pedestal near the center, marking 
the spot where the "Angel rolled the stone from the 
door and sat upon it." Stooping down we entered the 
chapel built over the "Sepulchre that was hewn in 
stone, wherein never man before was laid." It is con- 
cealed by a marble slab laid in the middle ages, 
covering a cavity said to have been a tomb cut in the 
rock and arched over. But to add strength to the 
claims set up, other tombs not concealed from the 
public eye, said to be those of Joseph of Arimathea 
and Mcodenius close by, are shown, and if these are 
genuine, it is strong proof in favor of the assertion. 
To my mind the convincing testimony rests on the 
proof, of whether the Golgotha of St. Helena lay 
within the walls of the ancient city or without. At 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 383 

the present time it is within the walls of the city and 
John says "the place where Jesus was crucified was 
nigh to the city," and further along he says that " in 
the place where He was crucified there was a garden, 
in the garden a sepulchre wherein was never man yet 
laid," and that " there they laid Jesus." Now it is 
generally believed that since the days of Solomon no 
burials have been permitted inside the walls. From 
the fact that much debris was found to the west of the 
church of the sepulchre, and but little to the east, 
conclusions are drawn that the old wall must have run 
between the city and Golgotha. This would greatly 
restrict the limits of the city, which Josephus says 
contained over a million of people at the time Titus 
made his attack, and as the walls at the present time 
are only two miles and a half in circumference it is hard 
to understand this statement. 

Now just outside the wall is a high hill, called the 
New Calvary. It is shaped something like a skull, 
and contains the reputed tomb of Jeremiah and other 
rock tombs. General Gordon spent some eight months 
here making investigations, and before leaving here to 
meet a cruel death in the Upper Nile region, expressed 
his belief freely that this was the genuine Mount 
Calvary. Many others are of the same opinion, 
including the American consul. 

In connection with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 
is the cave, now a chapel, and beneath this a cistern 



384 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

where St. Helena found, some three hundred years 
after the crucifixion, three wooden crosses. In order 
to discover which was the Savior's, she laid first one, 
then the other, on a dead body, and the true cross was 
revealed to her when the corpse, with which it came in 
contact, at once sprung into life. Another account is 
that a lady was sick, and the virtues that were in the 
three crosses was tested — something in the manner of 
the modern mad-stone. Two of them would not 
"take hold," but when her touch came in contact with 
the third, miraculous properties were so convincing 
that there could no longer be any doubt that this 
was the identical cross upon which the Son of Man was 
crucified. It was hewn in pieces and distributed 
amongst several churches where it is shown to this 
day. 

A gentleman of the Latin church, who resides here, 
observing my skepticism, as the guide was detailing 
the marvelous story, explained that the cross was made 
of cypress — a resinous wood that would keep in a dis- 
used cistern for centuries; that the material in them 
was not skimped so that, on being cut into pieces, the 
supply would be enough to go around. Then, to give 
tone and vigor to his argument, he advanced the the- 
ory that it would be quite natural to gather up these 
crosses and store them away in such a convenient 
place, and I admitted that it would. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 385 

The absurdities connected with this interesting place 
detract much from its otherwise sacred character. For 
instance, a brass slide about five feet away from the 
cross, reveals, on being pushed aside, a cleft in a rock. 
Here, it is said, stood the cross of the penitent thief, 
and the cleft reaches down to the center of the earth. 
They show the grave of Adam, and relate that the 
blood of Christ flowed through a cleft in the rock until 
it reached his skull, when it leaped to the surface, thus 
giving him the power of resurrection. The skull seen 
in pictures of the crucifixion has relation to this tradi- 
tion. 

During the Easter festival, the Church of the Sepul- 
chre is crowded ; and, considering that four different 
denominations hold high carnival here, and that stand- 
ing room only is to be had, much confusion and uproar 
occurs. In 1834 six thousand persons were here as- 
sembled, when a riot broke out, which called for mili- 
tary interference, and in the melee that followed three 
hundred pilgrims lost their lives. In this connection 
I may be pardoned for quoting from Dean Stanley * 
what he beheld here during the Easter festivities, when 
the ceremony of the Holy Fire is enacted. 

■" The chapel of the Sepulchre rises from a dense 
mass of pilgrims, who sit or stand wedged around it ; 
whilst round them and between another equally dense 
mass, which goes round the walls of the church itself, 



* Picturesque Palestine, D. Appleton & Co., New York. 

25 



386 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

a lane is formed by two lines, or rather two circles, of 
Turkish soldiers stationed to keep order. For the 
spectacle which is about to take place, nothing can be 
better suited than the form of the rotunda, giving gal- 
leries above for the spectators and an open space below 
for the pilgrims and their festival. For the next two 
hours everything is tranquil. Nothing indicates what 
is coming, except that two or three pilgrims who have 
got close to the aperture keep their hands fixed in it 
with a clench never relaxed. It is about noon that 
this line is suddenly broken through by a tangled 
group, rushing violently around till they are caught 
by one of the Turkish soldiers. It seems to be the be- 
lief of the Arab Greeks that unless they run round the 
sepulchre a certain number of times the fire will not 
come. 

" Possibly, also, there is some reminiscence of the 
funeral games and races round the tomb of an ancient 
chief. Accordingly, the night before and from this 
time forward, for two hours, a succession of gambols 
takes place, which an Englishman can only compare 
to a mixture of prisoner's base, foot-ball, and leap-frog, 
round and round the Holy Sepulchre. First he sees 
these tangled masses of twenty, thirty, fifty men start- 
ing in a run, catching hold of each other, lifting one 
of themselves on their shoulders, sometimes on their 
heads, and rushing on with him until he leaps off, and 
some one else succeeds ; some of them dressed in sheep 
skins, some almost naked, one usually preceding the 
rest as a fugleman, clapping his hands, to which they 
respond in like manner, adding also wild howls, of 
which the chief burden is ' This is the tomb of Jesus 
Christ ! God save the Sultan ! Jesus Christ has re- 
deemed us!' 

" What begins in the lesser groups soon grows in 
magnitude and extent, till at last the whole of the cir- 
cle between the troops is continued occupied by a race, 
a whirl, a torrent of these wild figures, like the 
witches' Sabbath in ' Faust,' wheeling round the Sep- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 387 

ulchre. Gradually the frenzy subsides, or is checked, 
the course is cleared, and out of the Greek Church on 
the east of the Kotunda a long procession with em- 
broidered banners, supplying in their ritual the want 
of images, begins to defile around the Sepulchre. 

" From this moment the excitement, which has been 
before confined to the runners and dancers becomes 
universal. Hedged in by soldiers, the two huge 
masses of pilgrims still remain in their places, all 
joining, however, in a wild succession of yells, through 
which are caught from time to time, strangely, almost 
affectingly, mingled, the chants of the procession — the 
solemn chants of the church of Basil and Chrysostom 
mingled with the yells of savages. Thrice the pro- 
cession passes round ; at the third time the two lines of 
Turkish soldiers join and fall in behind. One great 
movement sways the multitude from side to side. The 
crisis of the day is now approaching. The presence of 
the Turks is believed to prevent the descent of fire, 
and at this point it is that they are driven out of the 
church. In every direction the raging mob bursts in 
upon the troops who pour out of the church at the 
southeast corner. The procession is broken through, 
the banners stagger and waver. They stagger, and 
waver, and fall, amidst the flight of priests, bishops 
and standard-bearers hither and thither before the 
tremendous rush. 

"In one small but compact band the Bishop of Patra 
(who is on this occasion the Bishop of 'The Fire,' the 
representative of the patriarch) is hurried to the 
Chapel of the Sepulchre, and the door is closed behind 
him. The whole church is now one heaving sea of 
heads. One vacant spot alone is left — a narrow lane 
from the aperture on the north side of *the chapel to the 
wall of the church. By the aperture itself stands a 
priest to catch the fire; on each side of the lane 
hundreds of bare arms are stretched out like the 
branches of a leafless forest — like the branches of a 
forest quivering in some violent tempest 



388 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

"At last the moment comes. A bright flame as of 
burning wood appears inside the hole — the light, as 
every educated Greek knows and acknowledges, 
kindled by the bishop within — the light, as every pil- 
grim believes, of the descent of God himself upon the 
Holy Tomb. Any distinct feature or incident is lost in 
the universal whirl of excitement which envelops the 
church as slowly, gradually, the fire spreads from 
hand to hand, from taper to taper through that vast 
multitude till at last the whole edifice from gallery to 
gallery and through the area below, is one wide blaze 
of thousands of burning candles. It is now that, 
according to some accounts, the bishop or patriarch is 
carried out of the chapel in triumph, on the shoulders 
of the people, in a fainting state, 'to give the impres- 
sion that he is overcome by the glory of the Almighty, 
from whose immediate presence he is supposed to 
come.' It is now that the great rush to escape from 
the rolling smoke and suffocating heat, and to carry 
the lighted tapers into the streets and houses of 
Jerusalem through the one entrance to the church, 
leads at times to the violent pressure which in 1834 
cost the lives of hundreds. For a short time the 
pilgrims run to and fro, rubbing the fire against their 
faces and breasts to attest its supposed harmlessness. 

"But the wild enthusiasm terminates from the 
moment that the fire is communicated; and, perhaps, 
not the least extraordinary part of the spectacle is the 
rapid and total subsidence of a frenzy so intense — the 
contrast of the furious agitation of the morning with 
profound relapse of the evening, when the church is 
once again filled — through the area of the rotunda, 
the chapels of Copt and Syrian, the subterranean 
church of Helena, the great nave of Constantine's 
basilica, the stairs and platform of Calvary itself, with 
the many churches above — every part, except the one 
chapel of the Latin church, filled and overlaid by one 
mass of pilgrims, wrapt in deep sleep and waiting for 
the midnight service. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 389 

"Such is tli e Greek Easter — the great moral argu- 
ment against the identity of the spot which it professes 
to honor — stripped, indeed, of some of its most revolting 
features, yet still, considering the place, the time, and 
the intention of the professed miracle, probably the 
most offensive imposture to be found in the world. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 



THE CCENACULUM GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE — HARAM 

ESH SHERIF. 



Outside of the city, by the Zion gate southward, on 
the present site of an Armenian monastery, once stood 
the house of Caiphas, the high priest ; a closet of small 
dimensions is shown where Christ was imprisoned. 
The altar in the chapel contains a stone which is said 
to be the one the angels rolled away from the door of 
the sepulchre, and which, like the toe of St. Peter, at 
Rome, is worn by frequent kissing. The spot where 
Peter denied his Master, and the court where the cock 
crew, are also pointed out. In this locality, also, is the 
coenaculum, or chamber of the Last Supper, on the 
first floor, reached by a flight of stairs on the outside. 
This is also said to be the burial spot of David and 
Solomon, the exact location of which is shown on en- 
tering another chamber by a short flight of steps. 
Looking through a grated window we beheld nothing 
but a green cloth that conceals the sarcophagus of 
King David. Miss Barclay, who by strategy gained 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 391 

admittance " behind the scenes," thus describes her 
experience : 

" The room is insignificant in its dimensions, but is 
furnished gorgeously. The tomb is apparently an im- 
mense sarcophagus of rough stone, and is covered by 
green satin tapestry, richly embroidered with gold. 
To this a piece of black velvet is attached with a few 
inscriptions from the Koran, embroidered also in gold. 
A satin canopy of red, blue, green, and yellow stripes 
hangs over the tomb, and another piece of black vel- 
vet tapestry, embroidered in silver, covers a door in 
one end of the room, which, they said, leads to a cave 
underneath. Two tall silver candlesticks stand before 
this door, and a little lamp hangs in a window near it, 
which is kept constantly burning, and whose wick, 
though saturated with oil — and I dare say a most nau- 
seous dose — my devotional companion eagerly swal- 
lowed, muttering to herself a prayer with many a genu- 
flection. She then, in addition to their usual forms of 
prayer, prostrated herself before the tomb, raised the 
covering, pressed her forehead to the stone, and then 
kissed it many times. The ceiling of the room is 
vaulted, and the walls covered in blue porcelain, in 
floral figures. Having remained here an hour or more 
and completed my sketch, we left ; and great was my 
rejoicing when I found myself once more at home, out 
of danger, and still better, out of my awkward cos- 
tume." 

The walls we inspected were so closely covered with 
names and inscriptions of tourists, visiting Jews and 
Moslems, that it was with some difficulty the pilgrims 
from the Nile of America could find sufficient blank 
space on which to leave their autographs — but it is 
there notwithstanding. Both Jews and Moslems be- 
lieve it to be the tomb of David. Its exact location 



392 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

was no secret in the days of Josephus, who says he 
was buried in Jerusalem, by Solomon with great pomp 
and in great magnificence, immense wealth being de- 
posited in the tomb with him, so that, many centuries 
afterwards, Hyrcanus, the high priest, when he was 
besieged by Antiochus the Pious, in order to buy off 
the besiegers, opened the sepulchre of David and took 
out gold equivalent to five millions and a half of dol- 
lars, and that subsequently "King Herod opened an- 
other room and took away a great deal of money, and 
yet neither of them came at the coffins of the kings 
themselves, for their bodies were buried under the 
earth so artfully that they did not appear even to those 
that entered into their monuments." If this state- 
ment of the great Jewish historian can be relied upon, 
then was this peculiar people superior to the ancient 
Egyptians in secreting their honored dead, and with 
their remains the portable wealth they had acquired. 
The Garden of Gethsemane lies east of Jerusalem 
across the narrow valley of Jehoshaphat — a distance, 
I should judge, of one-eighth of a mile. On the way to 
it we pass the spot where Stephen was stoned just out- 
side the city walls. Then the so-called tomb of the 
Virgin appears on our left, and that of Absalom, which 
is on the monumental style and ancient, is some dis- 
tance down the valley. The Garden of Gethsemane 
is a veritable garden belonging to the Franciscans. 
The buildings, however, take up considerable ground, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 393 

so that the garden does not occupy a space much larger 
than a lady would desire for her flower beds. It con- 
tains, amongst other things, seven venerable olive 
trees, one of them nearly twenty feet in circumference. 
From the nature of the country or the lay of the 
land, one could be easily persuaded that here at least 
there was no deception. A fragment of a column 
marks the spot where Judas betrayed the Son of Man 
with a kiss, and the place is also indicated where the 
apostles slept. Due east from the garden the stony 
precipitous path leads up to the Mount of Olives or 
Mount Olivet, which is often mentioned in the New Tes- 
tament, and being the highest elevation around, one gets 
the best panoramic view of the Holy City from here. It 
is noted more particularly, and revered as the place 
from whence the Savior ascended up to heaven. The 
exact spot, of course, is pointed out, covered by a 
mosque built in 1835. The location of the ascension 
is not in accordance with scripture. Luke says : 
"And He led them out as far as to Bethany .... 
and while He blessed them He was parted from them 
and was carried up into heaven." The Russians have a 
monastery here and a handsome bell tower, which I 
have seen from the banks of the Jordan, twenty miles 
away. It is the first object that greets the eye coming 
from Jaffa. Bethany is a dilapidated village on the 
way to Jericho, not more than a mile from the Mount 
of Olives. Here you are pointed out the ruins of the 



394 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

house of Simon the Leper, and close by the site of the 
home of Mary and Martha. The tomb where Lazarus 
was raised from the dead is hewn into the rock and is 
probably genuine. Coming back to the city we enter 
by the Jaffa gate — the most important at the present 
time of the seven gates through which the city may be 
entered. It is the only one that is left open after sun- 
down. To the right, as before stated, is the citadel of 
David ; obtaining a permit to enter it from the governor, 
through the courtesy of our consul, who kindly fur- 
nished a cavas, or Turkish orderly under his employ, 
we cross the bridge over the moat, and, passing by 
numerous antiquated Turkish guns, heaps of cannon 
balls, and groups of lounging soldiers, we climb several 
nights of stairs to the battlements. This is the highest 
outlook to be attained from Mount Zion or in fact any 
other elevation within the walls. It is a grand place 
from which to fix in one's mind the precise locations of 
the various objects that one comes to Jerusalem to see. 
From here you observe that the church of the Holy 
Sepulchre is not far from the center of the city, and 
that the space it occupies dwarfs your preconceived 
ideas of the extent of Mount Calvary. 

Tradition says King David built a palace here. 
When Titus destroyed the city, A. D. 70, there was a 
strong citadel on this spot which he allowed to stand, 
but in the numerous sieges which Jerusalem under- 
went — seventy in all from the time of David — it shared 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 395 

the general fate of all structures in Jerusalem, and 
from the foundation up, the present walls perhaps date 
only from the fourteenth century. 

Facing is £he Mediterranean hotel, the Bishop's house 
— an appendage of the hotel — the offices of the United 
States consul and Thos. Cook & Son. These occupy an 
angle where some space is allowed for streets, and is the 
only decent place within the walls of the city for a civ- 
ilized man to stop. Leaving this angle we follow David 
street, which becomes narrow and difficult of passage as 
previously stated and wend our way to the Haram esh 
Sherif — as the extensive artificial plateau where once 
stood the temple of Solomon, is called. 

As we marched through the narrow crowded street I 
fancied we were creating something of a sensation, for 
the reason that our dragoman thought it incumbent 
upon him to move in state ; hence he had procured the 
services of the consul's cavas, an exceedingly handsome 
Turk, bedecked in all the finery which a lucrative office 
paying a salary of sixty -two and a half cents a day would 
warrant. He marched at the head of the column with 
drawn sword, and if an Arab failed to get out of his 
way he received a blow from the broad side of it, that 
made several of them grit their teeth — in silence 

Presently we halted at a station where a soldier was 
detailed to accompany us. The procession then marched 
in the following order: first the cavas, second the sol- 
dier, third the Kansas pilgrims, fourth the dragoman, 



396 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

and last a superannuated old dragoman from Circassia 
who speaks English quite well, and had rendered great 
service, he claims, to men of the Barclay and Bobin- 
son stamp, but now in his old age, serves in the menial 
capacity of boots, or the next thing to it. He carried 
the slippers provided for the party, without which we 
would be denied admittance to the sacred precincts of 
the Moslems, or else make the venture in stocking- 
feet. In this order we pass the reputed Pool of 
Bethesda and soon ascend the broad white steps to the 
paved plateau of Haram esh Sherif where rises up 
before us the most unique building, as well as the pret- 
tiest structure in Jerusalem — the Kubbet es Sakhra, 
or Dome of the Bock, erroneously called the Mosque 
of Omar. 

It is an octagonal building, the outer walls of which 
are veneered with blue and porcelain tiling, very pleas- 
ing to the eye. It is surmounted by a huge dome cov- 
ered with lead, the design of which was copied from 
the dome of the church of the Sepulchre. Up to 1854 
none but the followers of Mahomet were permitted to 
enter its doors. As this was our first introduction to 
a mosque, the novelty of seeing a place of worship 
built on a different plan from the basilica style, which 
had grown monotonous, was truly refreshing. It is 
generally conceded that this celebrated mosque occu- 
pies the site of Solomon's temple. As a place of inter- 
est it still antedates that remote period, for it was here 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 397 

on Mount Moriah that Abraham prepared the altar for 
the sacrifice of his son Isaac, and David afterwards 
purchased the ground, which was a threshing floor, to 
offer sacrifices to the Lord. 

After the destruction of the temple by Nebuchad- 
nezzer, Zorobabel rebuilt it, but on a less magnificent 
scale. This temple was torn down by friendly hands, 
and a third one, erected by Herod, was the one of 
which Christ said, " Not one stone shall be left upon 
another." How literally the prophecy has been 
fulfilled! Titus desired that it should escape 
destruction, but the curse of God was upon it. A 
soldier of the Roman legions threw a fire brand into 
it, and from that day until now the Jews have had no 
temple at Jerusalem. 

The Roman Emperor Hadrian, who rebuilt Jerusa- 
lem and called it iElia, also built a heathen temple to 
Jupiter on this site, and it is recorded that as late as 
the fourth century a statue of Jupiter and Hadrian 
was found here and a statue of Venus on the Holy 
Sepulchre. It is true that under Emperor Julian the 
Jews were permitted to build another temple, but if 
the}^ availed themselves of the privilege the attempt 
was so feeble as not to be worthy of notice. 

The Crusaders besieged and captured the Holy City 
in 1099 and held it for eighty-eight years. It was 
wrested from them b}^ Saladin in 1187, and subse- 
quently falling into other hands, finally became 



398 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

subject to the Moslems, who have held it continuously 
since 1244. In 1800 Napoleon set out to capture 
Jerusalem, but abandoned the undertaking, perhaps 
thinking the game not worth the powder. The Mosque 
or Dome of the Rock dates from the seventh century. 
Leaving our shoes at the door, which is of bronze, as 
are likewise the other three doors, facing the four 
cardinal points of the compass, we observe in the rather 
dim light that filters through the curiously wrought 
windows of colored glass, two rows of marble columns 
forming an octagonal aisle. The columns are not all 
of the same design, and have evidently been used in 
other edifices. It is said that some of them stood in 
Herod's temple, but more likely they are from the 
temple of Jupiter. Inside the inner row of columns 
which support the dome, is an enclosure about five feet 
high and more than fifty feet in diameter. This encloses 
the Holy Rock, the actual measurement of which is 
fifty-seven feet long, forty-three feet wide and six and 
one-half feet above the pavement. This rock is the 
most sacred place in the world to the Jews, and the 
Moslems regard it next to the Caaba at Mecca. The 
Jews believe the ark of the covenant once stood here, 
that it was here concealed by Jeremiah and still lies 
buried beneath the rock. To them it is holy ground 
and they never walk the pavements of the mosque for 
fear of treading on the Holy of Holies, which at one 
period of their history meant sudden death. Not long 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 399 

ago it was deemed necessary to make some repairs 
inside the dome, and as the Jews are the only skilled 
workmen hereabouts, their services were demanded. 
But thej 7 absolutely refused to enter the mosque at 
any price. However, their conscientious scruples were 
overcome at last, and they consented to do the work 
provided they were carried back and forth on the shoul- 
ders of the Moslems. 

The Moslems reverence the rock because Abraham 
sacrificed here, and they are just as proud — the Bed- 
ouin portion — of having " Abraham to their father " 
as the Jews, notwithstanding the scurvy trick he 
played the mother of their race when he set her and 
her illegitimate son down in the wilderness to starve. 

From this rock Mahomet ascended to heaven on the 
back of his miraculous steed, El Burak, the hoof prints 
of which are still seen in the rock. The rock was desi- 
rous of entering paradise with the prophet, but the 
angel Gabriel shoved it back, and the imprint of his 
hands still remain on its surface. They claim that the 
rock hangs over the abyss, without material support 
other than a slender column, which you observe to the 
right in a leaning position, as you descend to the grotto 
underneath, where Abraham, David, Solomon, Elijah, 
and Mahomet resorted for prayer. The bottom of the 
cave sounds hollow, and in the roof is a circular hole, 
which gives the whole thing away, stamping it as noth- 
ing more than an ancient cistern. 



400 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The interior of the mosque is handsomely embel- 
lished with mosaics of exquisite workmanship, some 
of it quite antique. In front of the north entrance a 
small slab of jasper is set in the floor "in which Ma- 
homet drove nineteen golden nails. A nail falls out at 
the end of each epoch, and when all are gone the end 
of the world will arrive." They show you but three 
nails and a half, all that were saved by the angel Ga- 
briel, who one day caught the devil destroying them, 
and arrived at the dome just in time to avert a terri- 
ble catastrophe. When the crusaders beheld the 
mosque they were electrified, and thought it was the 
veritable temple of Solomon. 

The Knights Templar here came into existence and 
adopted the dome of the rock as part of their armorial 
bearings. Walking across the plateau eastward we 
pass the beautiful little pavilion called David's Place 
of Judgment, and descending a few steps come to a 
fountain that was fed by water from Solomon's pools, 
of which I shall have something to say hereafter. In 
front of this is Mosque El Aksa, once a Christian 
basilica, founded by the Emperor Justinian. It is 
much used as a place of w6rship by the Moslems. In 
the apse two small foot-prints in a stone are shown as 
those of Jesus, when at the age of twelve years he was 
found in the temple "in the midst of the doctors hear- 
ing them and asking questions." This basilica does 
not differ materially from others described in former 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 401 

letters, except that it has been somewhat modified to 
suit the religious exercises of a different faith. There 
is a large window here looking out into the valley of 
Jehoshaphat and the brook Kidron. One obtains a 
good view also of the village of Siloam, beneath which 
is the pool of that name. I mention this window more 
for the reason of relating the superstitious practice 
connected with it, than for any merit that it possesses 
as a work of art. On the wires that form the meshes 
of the screen flutter hundreds of odds and ends of old 
rags tied there by persons afflicted with diseases. It is 
said to have the same effect on them that an applica- 
tion of stump-water has on warts. 

There is one other point of interest left to describe 
(not that I have exhausted the subject by any means), 
and that is the wailing place of the Jews. Picking 
our way on a Friday evening, just before the Jews' 
Sabbath, through narrow streets of filth and rubbish, 
confronted on all sides by abject poverty and persist- 
ent beggary, we arrived in a narrow passage, on one 
side of which rises a high ancient wall constructed of 
massive stone to support the filling of the Temple 
platform. Here sights and sounds greeted us that 
were novel enough to satisfy even the taste of one on 
whom sight-seeing had begun to pall. Jews of differ- 
ent nationalities and various stations in life, many 
in tatters and some in silks, had congregated as was 
their custom, to bewail and lament in piteous accents 



402 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the misfortunes of Zion. All had their faces turned to 
the wall, the women lamenting in tones of sorrow, the 
men swaying their bodies back and forth and reading 
aloud from the Hebrew book in their hands. I doubt 
if a similar sight can be witnessed in the world outside 
the walls of Jerusalem. Rothschild when he. was here 
was much impressed with the poverty and wretch- 
edness of his race in Palestine, and has done much to 
ameliorate its condition in the way of erecting com- 
modious buildings for hospitals and homes for indi- 
gent Jews. 



CHAPTER XL VIII. 



THE TOMBS OF THE PROPHETS TOPHET — RACHEL'S TOMB 

' — SOLOMON 7 S POOLS BETHLEHEM. 



Our visit to Palestine, unfortunately for us, was ill- 
timed on account of tire unusual heat that prevailed 
in this latitude during the whole time of our sojourn 
in Palestine, making it exceedingly uncomfortable and 
dangerous to the health of persons of northern habita- 
tion to be exposed to the fierce rays of the sun. The 
nights were far from cool — being favorable to the noc- 
turnal attacks of fleas and mosquitoes ; all of which 
combined was not conducive to that repose of mind 
and body so needful where the duties assumed partake 
of the nature of severe and exhausting toil. Our op- 
portunities for sight-seeing were confined to the morn- 
ings, and the evenings after four o'clock. The inter- 
mediate time we staid indoors and sought in vain to 
keep cool. 

Our first trip outside of the city was to the tombs 
of the judges and kings. The former lie distant from 
the walls of the city about a mile and a half, in a 
northerly course, and the latter about half that dis- 



404 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tance. The path leading to them reminds me of the 
words of warning on a finger board in Virginia : 
" This road is not passable; not even jackassable;" 
but by stress of holding on hard to the saddle of the 
donkey we accomplished the feat, and were amply re- 
paid. These tombs are hollowed out of the solid rock. 
You are admitted, by stooping a little, into a room 
about sixteen feet square. In two of the corners are 
choked up stairways, and on three sides are excava- 
tions, each of them large enough to admit the stone 
coffin, or sarcophagus, in which the ancient Jews of 
distinction were buried. 

The tomb of the kings is on a grander scale, the 
rubbish having been removed only of late years to per- 
mit a thorough investigation. You first enter a gate 
and then descend a number of broad stone steps. 
These lead to a water cavern or cistern, but turning 
to the left you enter a spacious court yard cut in the 
solid rock. On one side is a portal with an ancient 
Jewish inscription and remains of pillars strewn 
around. At the entrance to the tomb is a large circu- 
lar stone bearing some resemblance to a rough hewn 
grindstone. This could be rolled back and forth in a 
groove, effectually opening or closing the entrance 
when desired. ■' And they said among themselves, 
who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre?" Our guide rolled the stone away for us, 
and lighting candles, we passed from one chamber into 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 405 

another, each of which contained either shelves or re- 
cesses for depositing the dead. In one of these the 
French discovered an elegant sarcophagus, which is 
on exhibition at the Louvre. There is a vast number 
of these tombs and sepulchres lying adjacent to 
Jerusalem. 

The town of Bethlehem, in which our Savior was 
born, is due south from Jerusalem, a distance of four 
or five miles. We took a hack as far as the tomb of 
Rachel, which is on the main road to Hebron, and 
within a half mile of Bethlehem, and there mounted 
donkeys for Solomon's Pool, lying about three miles 
further on. Whenever donkeys or horses are rendered 
necessary in getting about, just take it for granted that 
there is only a path, that it is steep and stony, and 
progress slow. For this reason distance is meas- 
ured here by the hour, and not by the mile. The 
horses and donkeys have but one gait, and that a slow 
walk. 

On our right, after leaving Jerusalem, we pass 
through the Valley of Hinnom, with the " Hill of Evil 
Counsel " on our right where, it is said, Caiphas took 
counsel with the Jews how he might slay Jesus. In 
this valley children, in the days of wicked kings, were 
sacrificed to the god Moloch. It has been designated 
in the Scriptures as Tophet and Gehenna. Here we 
crossed a bridge where a number of lepers were sitting, 
who piteously showed their deformities and asked for 



406 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

alms, which were thrown to them at long range ; then 
in succession we passed the neat, trim looking village 
of the German colony and the hospital for lepers, be- 
yond which is the plain of Rephraim, " where the As- 
syrian came down like the wolf on the fold," as Byron 
sings, but the boastful Senacherib retreated in great 
consternation without drawing a bow. In a single 
night " one hundred and four score and five thousand " 
of that grand .army of invasion stricken with the 
plague." melted like snow in the glance of the Lord." 

The tomb of Rachel is a white stone building with 
a dome after the usual style in vogue with the 
Moslems, and contains a sarcophagus said to be quite 
modern. " And Rachel died and was buried in the 
way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set 
a pillar upon her grave, that is the pillar of Rachels 
grave unto this day." Notwithstanding the fact that 
tradition locates the spot here, and that Moslems, Jews 
and Christians all revere it as genuine, there are yet 
many doubting Thomases. 

As related above, we mount the donkeys here for the 
pools of Solomon, which consist of three large reser- 
voirs, partly hewn out of the rock and pieced out with 
masonry. The pools are not on the same level, but are 
so constructed that the second and third successively 
flow into the first, being fed by at least four springs 
which burst from the hillside in copious streams, not, 
however, in quantities sufficient to keep even one of 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 407 

these immense reservoirs full at this time of year ; but 
when the rainy season sets in the volume of water 
from the springs is much increased. Leading from the 
pools all the way to Jerusalem is a conduit of mason 
work that follows the undulations of the surface, 
showing that whoever constructed this remarkable 
water main understood the principle of forcing water 
when confined in pipes from a depression to an eleva- 
tion. At intervals square vents, large enough to re- 
ceive an ordinary pail had been cut, wherein the 
crystal water came to the surface but no farther, and 
it is a mystery to me why it did not spurt up and 
waste the flow of water at the first one, instead of 
flowing peacefully on, for these openings occurred both 
in the elevations and depressions. We followed it all 
the way to Bethlehem, by a route different, however, 
from the one which brought us hither. The reser- 
voirs differ in size somewhat, the dimensions of the 
lowest, which, is also the largest, being five hundred 
and seventy-two feet long, one hundred and forty-sev- 
en feet wide at the top, two hundred and seven feet at 
the bottom and forty-eight feet deep. It is really 
questionable if Solomon constructed these pools at all, 
the only authority quoted being from Ecclesiastes 
whose authorship is ascribed to Solomon, wherein he 
says: " I made me pools of water, to water therewith 
the wood thatbringeth forth trees;" which would seem 



408 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

to indicate that they were constructed for purposes of 
irrigation, and not as a water supply for Jerusalem. 

A mile or so from the pools following the conduit, 
but deep down in a narrow valley, is a very fertile 
stretch of land occupied with gardens and orchards, 
irrigated from this conduit. The eye, relieved from the 
barren, rocky hills that enclose it, lingers here with 
delight. Some say that here Solomon had located his 
gardens and "planted trees in them of all kinds of 
fruit." 

It has only been a few years since this property was 
purchased with English money, for the purpose of 
creating a field for agricultural labor, that shall give 
regular employment to Christian Jews and demon- 
strate the possibilities of the soil under a system of ir- 
rigation, and the capability of the society to maintain 
it successfully for a series of years. What is now a 
smiling garden was then but a barren ravine, and it 
required many days of wearisome toil to get every- 
thing in condition to commence seeding. In due time 
the earth brought forth its fruits, but before any of the 
vegetables had been marketed in Jerusalem, some evil 
minded persons one night opened a vent in the Pools 
of Solomon, flooding the little valley and washing away 
all the loose soil, that had been so slowly, so laborious- 
ly, yet so hopefully accumulated, and with it the entire 
crop, which a few brief hours before held out such a 
hope of honest reward. Three days afterwards, tur- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 409 

nips from the Dead Sea, whither they had been carried 
by the flood, were offered for sale by Bedouins in the 
streets of Jerusalem. 

It looked like a death blow to the hopes and aspira- 
tions of the society, but they rallied from it, this time 
cutting a ditch along the hillside and constructing a 
levee that would present an effectual barrier to the 
waters in the future, and conduct them in a channel 
around their growing crops. Perseverance in this 
instance has been no exception to the rule, and the 
garden to-day, if not as fruitful and seductive as in 
the day, more than twenty-eight hundred years ago, 
when Solomon rode out in his chariot in the cool of 
the morning, is, nevertheless, the most fertile and best 
cultivated spot in all Palestine. 

Some writers attribute the construction of the so- 
called Solomon's Pools to Pontius Pilate, who certainly 
was engaged in an enterprise to convey water to 
Jerusalem. If I am allowed to advance a theory of 
my own, I should say they were not constructed in 
Solomon's day ; for when Senacherib was threatening 
Jerusalem, Hezekiah the king stopped all the fountains 
near the city and dammed up or diverted the waters 
of the brook Kedron, in order that the Assyrian army 
might perish of thirst, which would have been entirely 
futile with these immense reservoirs but a few miles 
away. 



410 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Although we had taken an early start, by the time 
we left the pool, on which, perhaps, I have dwelt too 
long, the sun was fairly melting us, while the donkeys 
picked their way around the boulders as leisurely as if 
we had been metamorphosed into inanimate matter. 
I had no spurs, and my heels were raw in jogging 
their cast-iron sides ; it required an expert to carry an 
umbrella, use a whip and hold up a donkey at the 

same time. Mrs. S vowed it was the last time 

any one would catch her on the back of a donkey. In 
the course of events she saw fit to qualify her decision, 
and to confine her denunciations of the quadrupeds 
exclusively to the Syrian variety. When patience had 
her perfect work about exhausted, we at length 
threaded the steep, narrow, filthy streets of Bethlehem 
and alighted more dead than alive in front of the 
great monastery, where the Franciscan Monks won 
our eternal gratitude by their hospitality. One of 
them had been to Cincinnati, and when I told him I 
was from Kansas, he wanted to know if I hailed from 
Emporia. The idea of a pilgrim hailing from Emporia ! 
I wondered at his stupidity in supposing that any 
other city in Kansas except the Peerless Princess of 
the Plains could muster up enterprise of the requisite 
sort to be represented by a dusty, sunburned and 
thoroughly disgusted pilgrim in the God-forsaken 
country known as the Holy land. There, I have said 
it and I will stand to it. A man should come to this 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 411 

country of his own accord only to do penance for his 
sins. Viewed in this light, at the time I write, I 
think I have fully expiated mine. 

After rest and refreshments we followed our drago- 
man to the Milk Grotto, an ancient cave converted 
into a chapel. Here it is said the Virgin concealed her- 
self for three days with the infant Jesus, from Herod, 
who about this time was issuing the edict to slay all 
the babies in Bethlehem " and in all the coasts thereof," 
hoping to spread by this means a net large enough to 
catch what his cowardly nature conceived to be a rival 
to his throne. 

The Milk Grotto is so called and revered by this 
legend, which is farther embellished by the story that 
the Virgin, being overflush with the life-sustaining fluid, 
permitted a drop of it to fall on the floor of the cave, 
which converted the greyish blue rock into a white 
chalky substance. Each pilgrim is expected to deposit 
a small fee, and bear away souvenirs of the grotto 
made into little cakes of its material, which are said 
to possess the efficacy of producing a copious flow of 
the lacteal fluid when powdered, mixed in water and 
drunk. I should perhaps qualify this statement so far 
as to add that the charm fails to work except as ap- 
plied to mothers who find themselves " short." I have 
stored away a supply for the exclusive benefit of 
Wichita matrons. Lest my motives be misunderstood, 



412 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

I will place myself on record by stating that I am not 
a candidate for office. 

From here we returned to the monastery and de- 
scended to another grotto, of which I wish to treat 
with an entire absence of any spirit of levity or ex- 
pression of irreverence, for if there is any spot in this 
portion of the Holy Land where my fortunes have led 
me, any one place where conviction of genuiness 
forced itself upon my mind, and destroyed the illusions 
of a life-time, the spot where tradition says our Savior 
was born. 

Perhaps I should have been better informed, and not 
measured things in Palestine by an American stand- 
ard, but from my earliest recollection I have labored 
under the impression that Christ was born in a com- 
mon old log stable. I know I have seen pictures por- 
traying such structures, with the cows and the donk- 
eys looking wild-eyed at the intrusion of those who 
had invaded their quarters. Beading the Bible narra- 
tive as recounted by Matthew and Luke, and bringing 
it to bear on traditions unwritten and uninspired 
record, there is neither inconsistency nor improba-, 
bility, so far as I can see, in the claim that this cavern 
which for more than sixteen hundred years has been 
regarded as the identical spot in which our Savior was 
born, is other than genuine. Matthew alludes to it as 
a " house " and Luke says : " They laid Him in a man- 
ger because there was no room for them in the inn." 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 413 

The cavern, which is about forty feet long, twelve 
feet wide, and ten feet high, has doubtless been en- 
larged to meet the purpose of serving as a chapel. At 
one end is an altar where lamps are kept constantly 
burning. A few feet from this altar is the chapel of 
the manger, not more than six by eight feet in size. 
It contains, on the left hand, an altar adorned with a 
painting representing the adoration of the Magi. On 
the right hand is a manger of marble. The genuine 
manger, St. Helena carried off to Rome. I pre- 
sume it was of stone, like some I have seen unearthed 
in the so-called stables of Solomon, under the temple 
plateau at Jerusalem. 

Now, the question may be asked, what has all this 
to do with Christ being born in a stable? Simply 
this : these caverns, which are common in all the hill 
country of Judea, were utilized as stables then, as I 
myself have seen them on two occasions used at the 
present time, and the customs of these people have no 
more changed in this respect than they have in a 
hundred other things, since long before the event of 
Christ's birth. 

When we entered this cavern, or chapel, a priest of 
the Greek church was swinging a burning censer, and 
a few devout persons were kissing all the marble in 
sight. From here one is conducted to the cell occupied 
by St. Jerome as a hermitage when translating the 
Bible, towards the close of the fourth century. Con- 



414 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tinuing our subterranean journey we are shown a 
round hole where water is said to have gushed from 
the rock for the use of the Virgin. A narrow passage 
in the rock is next pointed out, where Joseph received 
the divine message to flee into Egypt. Descending a 
few steps, we enter the chapel of the Innocents, where, 
tradition says, Herod caused the death of some infants 
who had been brought hither for safety. 

After viewing the tombs of several saints, we 
mounted the steps that lead into the old basilica — 
the church of St. Mary, which, from the best informa- 
tion I could glean, has been standing, keeping guard 
over the place of the nativity, ever since the year 330, 
when well authenticated history relates the building 
of a church here by Constantine, thus, by common 
consent, making this the oldest church edifice in the 
world. It is owned jointly by the Greeks, Latins, and 
Armenians, all three holding devotional exercises as 
we passed through. I think I made a vow to describe 
no more basilicas. 

Bethlehem contains about five thousand people and 
is distinguished as one of the few Christian cities of 
Palestine. The men, so far as I could see, presented 
no distinctive features different from their Moslem 
neighbors. The women, however, exhibited charms of 
person that reflects credit on their Frank forefathers, 
the stalwart crusaders, who clung to Bethlehem with 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 415 

the tenacity of a last Lope, when driven from the Holy 
City. 

One can, with a slight stretch of imagination, fancy 
that Ruth, the Moabitess, who gleaned barley in the 
fields over which my eyes have roved to-day. was as 
attractive in form and feature as the dozen or more of 
gazelle-eyed brunettes that have crossed my pathway. 
If so, hard indeed would have been the heart of her 
kinsman Boaz, to have refused her hand on that 
eventful leap year morning, so graphically described 
in the chronicle which relates how Ruth the Moabitess 
happened to be the great-grandmother of King David. 

Returning to plain matter of fact, Bethlehem in all 
the centuries that have flown since the time of Ruth 
has held its own better, perhaps, than any city in 
Palestine. Its numerous artisans find employment 
in carving relics from mother of pearl and olive wood, 
and though ill paid, their condition is doubtless better 
than that of thousands who are forced to spend their 
time in idleness. After visiting the wells, of whose 
waters David craved when hiding in the cave of 
Adullam, we walked it down a steep hill, and there 
met our hack, which along towards evening set us 
down at the Jaffa gate, where the usual throng of 
camels and camel drivers, donkeys and donkey drivers, 
half-naked Arabs, mendicants and dogs, blocked up the 
way and made confusion worse confounded. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 



JERICHO THE DEAD SEA THE JORDAN. 



In the foregoing I have said nothing of the Via 
Dolorosa, or the Sorrowful Way, as it is sometimes 
called, over which the Savior was conducted on the 
way to crucifixion. There are something like eight 
stations, each of which is designated by a church, 
convent or house where the miraculous events, in no 
instance verified by scripture, are said to have 
occurred. 

I forbear entering into detail into what has been so 
accurately described by others and invite you to bear 
me company to Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea. 

There is no joke about the desire for company, as the 
trip on horseback is absolutely too severe for any 
woman unless she has the constitution and nerve of an 
Amazon; and particularly would this apply at the 
present time, because of the great heat prevailing. It 
so happened that no other man cared to make the trip 
just at this time, but with me it was now or never. 

I set out at two o'clock in the morning with my 
dragoman, a cook, and the young Arab who served as a 
conductor of the pack train, which consisted of one 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 417 

poor forlorn donkey. At Bethany our force was in- 
creased by the addition of a Bedouin guard, armed 
with an old shot gun and a dilapidated sabre that must 
have seen service in the days of the crusade. It was 
what Colonel Bill Phillips used to call a scimiter. 

The descent from Bethany to the Apostles' well is 
by sharp turns of a perpendicular character and a 
road bed covered with loose and jagged stones, render- 
ing progress both -slow and unsafe, especially when 
made in the dark. About half way down we 
encountered a string of camels toiling up the hill, but 
so noiseless was their approach, by reason of their 
cushioned feet which gave no sound of warning, that 
my pony instantly took fright and sprang up the 
embankment on the top of some huge boulders. I 
think I was worse scared than the horse, but the 
muleteer came to my relief and led the pony, quivering 
in every limb, back into the road. If there is anything 
calculated to affright a "skeery" animal it is the 
weird-like sudden approach of a troop of camels 
loaded with huge bales or bundles of brushwood, when 
the night is dark, and the stars lend just sufficient 
light to magnify moving objects into ghost-like appari- 
tions. 

I think that my pony received a nervous shock that 
will get him into trouble, and perhaps be the death of 
him. To his excited fancy a little donkey carrying a 
load bigger than himself was a " spook," and discerning 

27 



418 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

it a long way off, when the nature of the landscape 
admits such a thing, he would prick up his ears, whisk 
his tail and prance side ways like a hog going to war. 
I have a spite against him for he came near unhorsing 
me three different times, and I have no desire in 
particular to imitate the author of Ben Hur when at 
Jerusalem. 

This was told me by a Turkish general. He said 
Wallace wanted to ride a favorite horse of his, priding 
himself much on the equestrian habit he had acquired 
in the army. They were riding together near the tomb 
of Rachel, when his lordship, the Arabian stallion, 
began to step high and put on airs. The general, 
like myself, found his seat not so firm as when young- 
er and in practice. The Turkish general's eyes twinkled 
as he related how he had picked him up, and if his 
acquaintance with Shakespeare had been at all famil- 
iar, doubtless he would have exclaimed, " Oh ! water- 
fall was there my countrymen." 

The United States consul also relates a sad accident 
that befell an English officer. The pony spilled him 
off and badly fractured his skull. However, I had not 
learned of these mishaps until after the pony and I 
had parted company. 

The Apostles' well (also called by other names) is at 
the foot of the elevation which, if followed to its sum- 
mit, leads back to the Mount of Olives through Beth- 
any. I have before stated that Luke describes the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 419 

ascension of Christ as from the latter place, seemingly 
to contradict the account given by him in the first 
chapter of Acts, which intimates that it was on Mount 
Olivet. The two locations are, however, within one 
mile of each other. From the well to Jericho — a dis- 
tance of nineteen miles — there is no water to be found, 
nor any signs of habitation except a lonely Kahn call- 
ed the half way house, where a solitary individual 
ekes out a scanty subsistence by the meagre pay he 
receives as keeper of a corral. Near this place, a leg- 
end locates the scene of the parable of the Good Sa- 
maritan. 

By this time day has dawned, but we still climb the 
chalky cliffs and descend deeper and deeper into that 
valley whose level lies twelve hundred feet lower than 
that of the Mediterranean Sea, or what is known gen- 
erally speaking as the sea level. These mountains 
that we are trying to get off of are the Mountains of 
Judah and Benjamin, so called because they were in- 
cluded within the limits of the inheritance given to 
those two tribes when Joshua parcelled out the land. 
As an offset to the barrenness of this territory they 
were given a large strip of the plain of Jericho, or val- 
ley of the Jordan, which if properly cultivated, even 
now, would literally, as well as figuratively, be a land 
flowing with milk and honey. Toward the close of 
our day's journey the dragoman calls my attention to 
a narrow ribbon of green, visible between the precip- 



420 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

itous wall of a canon, more than five hundred feet be- 
low where I stand. There is the glistening of small 
pools of water showing that here was a natural water 
course. This is the Wady Kelt, popularly known as 
the brook Cherith, where Elijah concealed himself 
and was fed by the ravens. It corresponds with the 
Bible account, and the ravens were there just as they 
must have been when the Prophet of old supposed that 
he was the only one of God's servants that had escaped 
the hatred of a backslidden king. "Hide thyself by 
the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall 
be that thou shalt drink of the brook ; and I have com- 
manded the ravens to feed thee." 

Since the publication of this in the Eagle I have 
been taken to task for pinning niy faith to any such 
belief. An English traveler, with whom I conversed 
on the return ocean voyage on board the Etruria, was 
decidedly of the opinion that the Scriptural brook 
Cherith was east of the Jordan, from the fact that the 
Bible account stated clearly that he was to hide him- 
self in the brook Cherith that is before Jordan — equiv- 
alent to saying east of Jordan. He furthermore as- 
serted that the word translated Raven in our Bible 
had the same meaning as that of Arab, thus throwing 
discredit, not alone upon the generally accepted loca- 
tion of the event, but upon the miracle itself, the very 
essence of inspired history. Elijah fed by the birds 
of the air is an event worthy of record. Elijah sup- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 421 

plied with food by a roving band of Ishmaelites, on 
the other side of Jordan, partakes too little of the 
marvelous to occupy a niche in sacred history. It 
don't suit me, and therefore I stick to it, backed up by 
the opinion of Prof. Abbet, that before Jordan means 
behind Jordan. 

The descent from here to the plain of Jericho is very 
abrupt and stony. The sun was becoming every mo- 
ment hotter, the umbrella heavier, and the pony slower 
in his movements — except when he scented a camel, 
which was of frequent occurrence, when his pace was 
side wise, but did not in the least accelerate our speed 
onward. These steep places are all terraced, and there 
is not a shovelful of earth on any of them. The off- 
sets occur very often, at intervals of say twenty feet. 
When my pony came to one of them, he halted for a 
second, then let both front feet down at once, gathered 
in his hind feet, and came down with a dull thud that 
was sickening. The sensation to the rider was that 
of having the termination of the spinal column driven 
up into the small of his back. After a man has ridden 
eighty-five miles over the "roads" of Palestine he 
gets used to it. The " don't have to " expression must 
be relegated back to the United States, where it be- 
longs, if a man ever expects to go to Jericho. 

I never before knew the significance of the old ne- 
gro melody, " Jordan is a Hard Road to Travel," until 
I learned it by actual experience. The fame of that 



422 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

song has even reached the comprehension of the drag- 
oman, and mine begged for just another verse of " Jor- 
dan." When I stood on the " stormy banks " I regaled 
them with a verse of that other melody sung with so 
much gusto by Wichita's great basso profundo, the 
whilom " Pussey Jones :" 

" Roll, Jordan roll, roll, Jordan roll ; 
I want to go to heaven when I die, 
To hear old Jordan roll." 

As we descended from the last hill that borders the 
plain of Jericho, the panorama that lay spread out be- 
fore us was one of great beauty, monotonous enough 
as it appeared to us afterward, when objects that ap- 
peared not more than a mile away were found, when 
we attempted to reach them, to be three times that 
distance; and I tell you that every mile counts here, 
with stiffened limbs, half blinded eyes, flesh that feels 
basted, and stomach that yearns after the flesh pots of 
Kansas ! 

The grass, if any grows here,' was activating, and 
only thorns and briars held up their heads in the 
greenness of life — deceptive as to utility, for, seen from 
the hills, they give all the appearance of trees that 
might have borne oranges, figs, or pomegranates. The 
last mile and a half, though nearly on a level, seemed 
of immeasurable length, but as the longest lane must 
have an end, so did this delectable road to Jericho, and 
about nine o'clock we drew rein at the stables of the 



PROM NILE TO NILE. 423 

Russian hotel, and with great dignity — only another 
word for stiffness — dismounted. Proceeding to the hotel 
we found it in charge of two French ladies who, 
politely ushered me into a chamber where there was a 
bed with snowy linen, canopied with mosquito netting, 
a ewer of water and basin, clean towels, and, as I 
live, soap ! Yes, actually SOAP ! Emphasize in capi- 
tals, for this is the first soap furnished us by any hotel 
since we left old England. Furthermore, there was a 
kerosene lamp on the table. Such munificence will 
surely lead to bankruptcy. As these out-of-the-way 
places are not prepared to furnish refreshments to trav- 
elers, my dragoman had given his attention to the com- 
missary department before leaving Jerusalem. The 
excellent cook we had brought with us installed him- 
self in the kitchen, and in due time the filling up pro- 
cess was under headway, and it was a caution how 
rapidly the viands disappeared, and with them that 
feeling of "goneness" and sensation of fatigue and 
recklessness of whether school keeps or not, so well 
known to every old soldier who has ever been on a 
raid. 

My dragoman had prepared with his own hands a 
dish so palatable that, like Kellar with the butter, I 
seemed to have a place in my stomach which nothing 
else had ever satisfied. I know you will turn up your 
metaphorical nose, when I give the thing away, but if 
ever your system becomes reduced by such fare as 



424 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

foreign travel has forced on an unwilling stomach, you 
will rejoice when a dish you can relish is placed before 
you, be it ever so plebeian or unknown by any high 
sounding French name. Well, my right bower had 
gone out into the garden and gathered a mess of pig 
weed — otherwise — -purslane. Then he went amongst 
the tomato vines and plucked some of the fruit there- 
of. Casting his weather eye around him it rested on 
an overburdened lemon tree, which, out of gratitude 
for the relief afforded, shed some of its juicest produc- 
tions at his feet. The first named was carefully picked 
over and washed, the tomatoes were mixed in after be- 
ing sliced ; salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce were 
added to give it tone, and the juice of the lemon took 
away all thought that Jericho salad was not as aristo- 
cratic as the swell vegetable called lettuce, the never 
failing appearance of which at every dinner table I 
have sat down to in three continents, has become so 
very repellant that when I reach home I shall erase 
the very name from my Webster. 

We found this embowered little inn a pleasant re- 
treat, notwithstanding the heat was very oppressive, 
both on account of the sun's rays, and that which 
would naturally occur in consequence of the great de- 
pressions that constitute this, the lowest area inhabited 
by man on the face of the earth. I lay around in the 
shade wherever a spot seemed the most inviting, until 
towards evening, when I sauntered out with the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 425 

dragoman on foot to take a look at the village. Er 
Riha, the modern Jericho, contains about three hun- 
dred people, principally Moslems, and of a very low 
type of humanity. The majority of them are Africans 
who have found a climate congenial to their half civil- 
ized taste. Some think they are the degenerate 
descendents of the old Canaanites reduced to their 
present condition by the oppressive climate ; for they 
are the only people who reside the year round in this 
torrid vale. Their dwellings are mere hovels and life 
is sustained with the least possible effort to gain a 
livelihood by the sw^eat of their brow. There is a 
Russian hospice here, rather a fine, commodious build- 
ing constructed of stone with a walled garden, con- 
taining tropical trees and plants. A fine new hotel 
nearly completed, a square tower said to have been 
built by the crusaders and at certain seasons occupied 
by a squad of Turkish soldiers, and a small Greek 
church constitute the new Jericho. The gardens, of 
which there are quite a number, abound in orange and 
lemon trees, the latter being of two varieties, the sour 
and sweet, the sweet lemons being a misnomer, yet 
differing from the orange. Bananas are raised quite 
abundantly, also pomegranates, figs, dates and other 
fruits, of which I could not get the correct name. 
Durra is raised to some extent, and furnishes the prin- 
cipal food of the inhabitants. 



426 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The # tnorn bushes, otherwise the dom, of which I 
spoke, rise to the dignity of trees, and produce a little 
apple not at all repugnant to the taste. This tree also 
produces a gum called jujube, from which has arisen 
our imitation of jujube paste, sold by confectioners. It 
is said that the crown of thorns was made from this 
tree. The apples of Sodom also grow here, of which 
the fable relates — and is believed by many — that fair 
and seductive to the eye, if attempted to be eaten, they 
turn to ashes on the lips. They are bright yellow, 
and about the size and shape of the yolk of an egg 
when hard boiled. The shell is hard and the inside a 
mush as bitter as gall. 



CHAPTER L. 



JERICHO, THE JORDAN, AND DEAD SEA CONTINUED. 



Approaching New Jericho from the mountains, on 
the right are the ruins of a large pool, said to have 
been built by Herocl. Near this was the site of the 
Jericho of the New Testament, and here Herod died. 
Christ was here just shortly before his crucifixion, 
when he sought entertainment with the publican of 
low stature, who was perched among the branches of 
a sycamore tree ; but the sycamores, like the palm 
trees of another Jericho, are conspicuous only by their 
absence. 

This once splendid city became the property of that 
great freebooter, Marc Antony, who presented it as a 
keepsake to Cleopatra, the seductive, who disposed of 
it, woman-like, to Herod — for a consideration, it is said. 

It was here that the inhuman monster, Herod the 
Great, imprisoned all his nobles, and exacted a promise 
from his wife and daughter that, on his demise, they 
should all be put to death, that there might be mourn- 
ing throughout the land — ostensibly for him. 



428 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

About one mile and a half to the left is the site of 
ancient Jericho, the scene of the ram's horn catastro- 
phe. The fountain of Elisha pours out from under 
the ancient walls of this once great city in a stream 
that would turn a mill. An event that occurred here 
makes this fountain a place of peculiar interest. 
Nearly due east of here, some ten or twelve miles, oc- 
curred the scene of Elijah's disappearance, when his 
mantle was caught up by Elisha. The latter returned 
to Jericho, and the people complaining of the bitter- 
ness of this fountain or spring, Elisha called for a 
cruse and some salt, " And he went forth unto the 
spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and 
said : ' Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these wa- 
ters ; there shall not be from thence any more death or 
barren land ;' so the waters were healed unto this day." 
I can testify to their sweetness and purity, but their 
temperature 80° Fahr., was enticing only for bath- 
ing purposes. With the water that flows from this 
fountain in a volume undiminished the year round 
properly husbanded, a vast area of fertile land might 
be reclaimed from the desert, but the Sultan, who owns 
personally the greater portion of it, I am told, for rea- 
sons satisfactory to himself, prefers to personate the 
dog in the manger. A handsome aqueduct of ten 
arches carries a stream of its water across from bank 
to bank of the brook Cherith, on which New Jericho is 
' situated, but at this season of the year the brook is 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 429 

dry. except the pools up in the mountains, as I have 
before indicated. The water by this aqueduct is con- 
veyed a long distance to a Greek monastery inthe di- 
rection of the Dead Sea. Immediately back of the 
site of ancient Jericho is the Mount of Temptation, 
where, tradition says, our Savior was tempted of the 
devil. It is one of the highest peaks of all this 
range, nearly inaccessible from the Jericho side. About 
half way up the Greeks have a monastery where water 
is packed the year round in goat skins on the backs of 
donkeys. 

It is remarkable, the hold the Greek church has 
taken on all the places were tradition has located the 
events pertaining to the life of Christ. 

I can imagine the grand picture that unfolded to the 
eyes of the Savior when he stood on the towering 
peak of this exceeding high mountain and looked from 
this coigne of vantage up and down this beautiful 
valley, dotted with smiling towns and cities, and a 
country lush with all the rich productions of the soil. 

From where He stood it seemed but a short distance 
across the valley to Mount Nebo 

' ' Where Moses stood 
And viewed the landscape o'er." 

I doubt not, but with the natural eye He could see 
Jerusalem, and spiritualized by fasting forty days and 
forty nights beheld the panorama of all the kingdoms 
of the earth pass before His vision, as the tempter, 



430 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

given for the time the power, could exercise the miracle 
just as the witch of Endor could cast a spell that 
should bring up in the presence of Saul the spirit of 
the dead Samuel. 

At precisely two o'clock the next morning, we were 
in the saddle bound for the Dead Sea and the Jordan. 
I confess to a peculiar sensation in riding along at this 
uncanny hour, attended by four men, natives of 
Palestine, and no comrade near to communicate the 
fraternal touch of elbow. The horses' iron shoes gave 
forth no metallic ring on the yielding sand, and with 
guard and guide both in advance with shot guns to 
their back like mounted infantry, showing up against 
the starlight, it seemed to me at times that the inter- 
vening years since '64 were all a dream and I was out 
on a midnight prowl after the Johnny rebs. So 
noiselessly, none of the natives uttering a sound, and 
awed into silence by a nameless something, call it a 
waking nightmare, that oppressed me, we passed along 
through a succession of creased and fantastic appear- 
ing hills, emerging from which on to a level piece of 
ground that appeared to have been once flooded, 
we struck a line of drift wood — beyond this a pebbly 
beach leading down to the famed Dead Sea — dead, 
because its waters are death to all species of life that 
would dwell beneath the water. Dead, because on its 
unruffled surface, ten miles by forty-six, not an aquatic 
fowl wets a feather, nor an oar grates in the rowlock, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 431 

nor a wheel churns the water into foam. It receives 
Jordan's flood into its maw as the horse leech, or as 
Arab children learn to say as their morning and 
evening prayer, "give, give," but impart nothing for 
humanity's sake. 

It is too close to the lower regions to have any out- 
let unless into sheol itself, and that would be outrage- 
ously unorthodox. I stooped down and with my hand 
conveyed a draft of its water to my mouth. Gee whiz ! 
Did ever mortal man take such a dose, even for the 
cholera ! Assafoetida might have taken the taste out 
of my mouth, but I had none and it lingers there still 
— in memory. As the dawn broke I discovered that 
the water was transparent and the gentle waves lap- 
ped against the beach as though to charm away into 
forgetfulness the horror with which its name and in- 
fernal taste inspire one. 

About a quarter of a mile from where we dismount- 
ed on the beach, the fires of the Bedouin moonshiners, 
making salt, as the Bedouins of North Carolina distil 
mountain dew — in defiance of the revenue laws, 
glowed red and intermittent. . Having some suspicions 
that we might be " Federals " they sent two of their 
party armed with long guns to reconnoitre. This was 
the occasion for our Bethany guard to show his 
bravery and delude me into the idea that they meant 
to attack us. 



432 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

. Both he and my Syrian dragoman threw themselves 
into a hollow square and prepared for battle, but the 
guard when his gun was brought to the proper level, 
instead of shooting commenced to talk. Of course I 
couldn't understand a word of the angry colloquy that 
ensued. 

Whatever threat he made, it was potent enough to 
induce the enemy to draw off his forces. From the 
manner in which that guard conducted himself after- 
wards in my presence, I was satisfied that the extra 
backsheesh he thought he had earned, would support 
his family through the ensuing winter. 

I have not before alluded to the abominable smell 
that arises like a stench in one's nostrils from the sul- 
phur that oozes out of the ground and the asphaltum 
that is from time to time thrown up from the bottom 
of the sea. 

Thus in 1837, such a large piece of bitumen, or as it 
is commonly called here stinkstone, became detached 
from the bottom of the sea by an earthquake, and 
rising to the surface floated to the shore and the 
Bedouins sold in the neighboring cities no less than a 
ton of it, to be manufactured into relics aud souvenirs 
for sale to tourists. 

It remained for the American people to throw much 
light in the way of general knowledge on this myste- 
terious inland sea. Two small iron vessels in charge 
of Lieut. Lynch were shipped to the Sea of Tiberias 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 433 

in 1848, and thence passed down the Jordan to this 
sea on which they spent about three weeks. Its exact 
level is twelve hundred and ninety-three feet below 
that of the Mediterranean and at its greatest depth it 
is thirteen hundred and eight feet. 

There was no occasion to linger any longer by its de- 
ceptive waters, and so we swung ourselves into the 
saddle and struck diagonally across the plain for the 
Jordan. Eiding for an hour we at length entered the 
immediate valley of the river where rocky formations 
of a chalky nature in many fantastic forms presented 
a barrier to any overflow beyond its limits. 

On the other side was the range of the mountains 
of Moab. The Dead Sea lies between this range and 
the mountains of Judah, both coming down to the 
water's edge. Much as I have heard of the insignifi- 
cance of the Jordan as a river, I confess I was not pre- 
pared for the disappointment that greeted my eyes 
when I first beheld the narrow, discolored stream that 
rushed past me between the high banks fringed with 
willows, tamarisk and wild cane. I at first thought 
the dragoman was playing upon my credulity ; but when 
he assured me with a face as long as the pack mule's, 
that this was the veritable Jordan, which pilgrims 
from America came seven thousand miles to see, I was 
forced to believe him. 

We drew rein at a place he called the ford, and here 
he said was the spot where Jesus, according to tradi- 



434 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

tion, was baptized by John. The stream here was 
about as wide as Little River at the Oak street bridge. 
It bears quite a resemblance to that stream, except 
that the current is very rapid, the volume of water 
larger and of a greyish color. Above the spot which 
I have described, is the ford now in use. 

Two shepherds, stripped to the skin, were wading 
back and forth transfering their flock of sheep and 
goats from the opposite bank. Their method was a 
novel one. They would take an animal by the ear 
(both goats and sheep have long lop or drooping ears), 
one in each hand, and force them along, the water 
helping to buoy them up. They ba-ad piteously and 
when their muzzles became submerged they made a 
noise more easily imagined than described. 

Just to say that I had done it, I picked out a 
spot and went in bathing. I had scarcely concluded 
the job when a herd of breeding camels, some three 
hundred in number, came down with their young to 
drink. That pony of mine, tied to a sapling, was 
about to uproot it, so I turned my attention to him 
until the muleteer woke up out of a stolen sleep and 
took charge of him. Then we had lunch on the banks 
of the Jordan, where tradition locates another Bible 
episode — that of the crossing of the children of Israel 
with the ark of the covenant. 

By the time lunch was finished that dread monster, 
the sun, was beginning to come down the near way, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 435 

and so we mounted and made a bee line for our quar- 
ters, in full view, but ten miles distant. It was a fear- 
fully hot ride, the last two or three miles particularly ; 
but once under shelter beneath the grape arbor of the 
inn, I stretched myself out and took it easy for the 
balance of the day. 

The next morning we were in the saddle by two 
o'clock, and after a repetition of the first day's ride, we 
dismounted at the Jaffa gate of the Holy City, where 
I turned over that pony to his owner without one word 
of regret. Not long afterwards we packed our relics 
of mother of pearl and olive wood and with our modi- 
cum of baggage passed out of the Jaffa gate for the 
last time. We left Jerusalem and, for the matter of 
that, Palestine, without any desire to remain longer. 
I am reminded of the words I heard Mr. Spurgeon ut- 
ter in a sermon in the Tabernacle at London. Said he, 
in substance : "I have never been to Jerusalem, and 
the Lord willing, I never shall go there ; I would not 
have the illusion of a lifetime destroyed by what I am 
told are the sad realities presented. The shadow, in 
this, is more than the substance." Yet I think any 
Bible student would be largely benefitted who could 
devote a few months of study and investigation in the 
cradle of Christianity. 



CHAPTEE LI. 



FROM JERUSALEM TO PORT SAID. 



There was but little pleasure to be got out of the 
return trip to Jaffa, chiefly because of the roughness 
of the road and the dust and extreme heat that pre- 
vailed. We seemed to feel these drawbacks to our 
creature comfort in a much greater degree than when 
we passed over the road before. Then Jerusalem, 
Bethlehem, the Jordan and the Dead Sea were pleas- 
ures held in anticipation; and what man is there who 
has not risked life and limb — at least subjected him- 
self to a hundred inconveniences and discomforts, in 
order to obtain a certain desire, roseate in anticipation, 
but when gratified, a metaphorical apple of Sodom? 
So with us ; when this great anticipated pleasure of a 
life time was realized, we found that the happiness lay 
not in the act of viewing these objects of interest, but 
in the retrospective. I have no doubt that when I sit 
in my chimney corner a few years hence, I shall see 
all that my eyes have beheld in the Bible land, in a 
new light — the softened sunlight of memory that shall 
clothe every rugged hill with a garment of green, that 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 437 

shall make straight the crooked paths and change the 
heavens of brass for the bluest of cerulean skies. 

Where is the old soldier — unless he played old 
soldier — who looks back through the vista of departed 
years with anything like a vivid realizing sense of the 
hardships and privations suffered almost beyond the 
measure of endurance? Why, every wormy hard-tack 
issued to him, in the days that tried men's soles is more 
precious in his mind than the frosted cake of last 
night's banquet. 

There were three stage loads of tourists returning 
from Jerusalem this afternoon, overtaking and passing- 
each other from time to time, on the down grade. 
This would not have been possible on the up grade, for 
like the colonel's orderly, they " might meet a turtle, 
but would never overtake one." 

Every mile or two, caravans of laden camels or 
asses, were met, and frequently Arab women would be 
seen coming from a well with large water jars perched 
on -their heads, carried in this manner two or three 
miles. 

Arriving opposite the village of Abou Ghosh, a fine 
looking Arab, clad only in a turban and white cotton 
gown belted at the waist, joined us on foot keeping a 
little in advance of our horses as we ascended rather 
a steep hill. Arrived at the summit, we made the 
descent at our usual down hill reckless speed, and I 
expected our barelegged Arabian recruit to drop to the 



438 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

rear. Not a bit of it ! For a stretch of four miles, in 
which the whip was applied freely, he trotted along in 
advance of the horses, never lagging, never seeming to 
catch his breath or manifesting the least signs of 
fatigue; Ever and anon he threw his head back over 
his shoulders to regulate his speed and after this 
manner, the dragoman told me, such as he would run 
for twenty miles without becoming fatigued. 

Night was beginning to overtake us as we cr&ssed 
the ravine which widens out into the valley where the 
children of Israel fought a bloody battle with the 
Ammonites and ceased not to smite them throughout 
the longest day on record, when their great General 
Joshua invoked the aid of the God of battles and said in 
the hearing of his army, il Sun, stand thou still upon 
Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon." 

As the shades of night gathered about us and we 
struck the fertile plains in which Ramleh is situated, 
we passed by groups of natives sitting around the dull 
red camp fires composed of dried offal from the camel, 
the peculiar odor of which carried me back to similar 
bivouacs on the plains of the Wild West when buffalo 
chips were a God-send, and the dun colored alkali 
water, the substitute not only for a thirst quencher, 
but an aperient that required no compounding. 

Some of these groups in silhouette were decidedly 
oriental. The fires afforded just light enough to dis- 
cern the turbaned head and womanish costume of the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 439 

Moslem, the faithful devotee at prayers, the camels in 
the back ground tethered for the night, in silent ru- 
mination. 

We were both tired and hungry when finally we 
drove through a Mohammedan burial ground, past the 
Greek convent where many benighted travelers had 
put up for lodgings, and dismounted at the comforta- 
ble new stone hotel of Herr Phinehart, where the ac- 
commodating landlord waited on us, and served us at 
the table in person. 

The next morning we were early on the road, reach- 
ing Herr Hardregg's inn at Jaffa, in time for lunch. 

An English lady, who has charge of a Protestant 
school in Jerusalem, was spending a brief vacation 
here, and sat down to the table with us. Before taking 
her seat however, she extended her hands over the 
table and said grace with an unction that meant some- 
thing more than a mere jumble of words. The simple 
brief ceremony was rendered doubly impressive to me, 
first from being uttered by a woman in a standing at- 
titude, and second because it seemed in such perfect 
accordance with the eternal fitness of things, that one 
should be thankful for getting anything at all to eat in 
Palestine. 

In the afternoon, we threaded our way through the 
narrow, filthy street that leads down to the water side, 
finding ourselves at times hemmed in between a camel 
and a stone wall, and at others compelled to climb over 



440 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

bales and boxes that blockaded the main thoroughfare 
of Jaffa, the same as though it was private property; 

A yawl was in waiting for us at the waterside, into 
which we were borne through a few yards of surf, in 
the brawny arms of a porter, and then rapidly rowed 
by four pairs of stout arms to the vessel riding at anchor 
in the open sea. We here parted from our fellow tour- 
ists who had raced with us on the down grades from 
Jerusalem, and were now bound for the same port as 
ourselves, but by a different line of steamers. 

At four o'clock we put to sea, and the next morning 
at daylight found ourselves slowly steaming into the 
harbor of Port Said, a city that was to rival Alexan- 
dria in importance, as Duluth was expected at one 
time to rival Chicago. Its present population is esti- 
mated at twenty thousand, one-third of which is Eu- 
ropean, amongst whom the French predominate. 

It cost us two shillings to go ashore in a yawl and 
another shilling to get through the custom house, but 
this was owing to our own perversity in not accepting 
the services of a dragoman, whom Cook's agent at 
Cairo had sent down to take charge of us. He was late 
in getting aboard the steamer after our arrival in 
the harbor, and so we engaged a boatman on our own 
responsibility, but immediately afterwards resigned 
ourselves to his guidance ; and although he was a Mo- 
hammedan and wore the costume, and prostrated him- 
self with his face to the East five times a day, he proved 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 441 

himself honest, trustworthy and an agreeable, enter- 
taing companion. I never had a particle of respect 
for an}' Mussulman until I met Ibrahim Ismail. May 
his tribe increase. 

We arrived at Port Said just one hour too late to 
make connection with the Suez steamer ; there was no 
alternative but to make the best of it for twenty-three 
hours, by sitting around in the cool verandas and cor- 
ridors of the Hotel-de-France. Once we took a stroll 
to the parade ground of a detachment of the English 
army. The superb band that here discourses music at 
a given hour each day, for the delectation of Eu- 
ropeans, discovering that on this day there were 
Americans in the cosmopolitan audience that stood 
around in the shade, struck up " Marching through 
Georgia," followed by " Hail Columbia " and the " Star 
Spangled Banner." It was as much of a treat to us 
as to hear English spoken with the American accent, 
after two weeks spent exclusively in the company of 
Arabs and Italians. 

Outside of Great Britain and Paris, the natives 
whom we meet seemed to have a crude idea of Amer- 
ica. Occasionally we' met a foreigner who had visited 
our land, but as a rule Americans were classed with 
English. They seemed to have no conception of the 
magnitude of our country, summing it all up compre- 
hensively as New York and located not a great way 
from London. 



442 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

One is apt to find a little more intelligence, geograph- 
ically, amongst the dragomen, who are naturally quick 
and shrewd, and, coming in contact with so many 
Americans and English, might be thought to be well 
posted ; and yet none whom I met had any conception 
of the vastness of the waste of waters that lies between 
the two great cities of the Eastern and Western Con- 
tinents. 

It is said that Americans betray their nationality 
not so much by their features as their prodigality. If 
the conduct of a few specimens with whom we came 
in contact is taken as a fair sample of American prod- 
igality, I fear that the distinguishing trait will have 
the opposite effect. 

On our visit to the so-called Mosque of Omar, two 
American women, traveling without escort, applied for 
admittance, and insisted on entering its sacred Mos- 
lem precincts without removing their shoes. From 
the persistency of their resistance to usage as inflex- 
ible as the laws of the Medes and Persians, I was led 
to suspect that they might be in the same condition as 
a countryman in the mountains of Pennsylvania, who 
made his appearance at the county seat, on the fourth 
day of July, and the mercury at 94°, clad in a heavy 
overcoat buttoned to the chin. He was observed to 
visit the taverns frequently, which in those days was 
in a certain sense only another term for the modern 
saloon. By and by he grew hilarious and then relapsed 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 443 

into a belligerent mood that speedily resulted in a free 
fight. It was incumbent upon him to strip for the 
fray, and then the mystery of that heavy overcoat in 
the hottest day of the season was solved. 

Our dragoman (who, on this occasion, was the con- 
verted Jew, Abraham Lyon) seeing that these two 
women, if they persisted in their unwise demands, 
might place us all in jeopardy, went to them and ef- 
fected a compromise, whereby they were permitted to 
enter by drawing on slippers over their shoes. Then, 
without even an invitation, they attached themselves 
to our party, and so monopolized the dragoman under 
our employ that we really felt that we, not they, were 
the intruders. They stuck to him like a leech ; but as 
I thought honest Abraham would earn a couple of 
shillings extra for his trouble, I interposed no objec- 
tion. I never dreamed that two women, hailing from 
the proud United States, would not only show ill breed- 
ing towards their fellow countrymen, but that they 
would allow a poor and worthy Syrian to pay their 
share of the backsheesh to doorkeepers and then slip 
meanly and quietly away without refunding it, 
or in any manner compensating him for his services, 
or thanking us for the protection we had afforded them 
in our retinue consisting, as before stated, of a cavas, 
guard, dragoman, and slipper holder. Well, we were 
not the only victims of the brazen impudence of these 
by no means rare specimens of foreign travelers ; for 



444 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the very next day the consul came down to dinner 
complaining very much of fatigue. He said two 
American ladies had called on him, stating that they 
were without escort, and would like him to conduct 
them through the Jewish and Moghrebin quarters. 
He thought it exhibited considerable gall, but as they 
were from his own country he would have to comply. 
They walked him for two hours, but when returning 
to his office and congratulating himself that the ordeal 
was over, they expressed a desire to ascend to the top 
of the citadel of David. He plead the excuse that he 
could not go there without a cavas. They said they 
would wait at the entrance until he went to his office 
and procured one. This he did, and had the supreme 
felicity of paying, in addition to his own services, all 
the expenses incident to the occasion. 

Whenever I hear of a person having made a tour 
abroad, boasting that it cost him less than to travel at 
home, I am inclined to class him with these female 
rovers of the adamantine cheek. 

Another example of the American abroad with whom 
prodigality cuts no figure, was illustrated in the person 
of an eccentric divine hailing from one of the western 
states, who thought it an imposition when the 
customs officer at Jaffa, after vising his passport 
demanded the usual fee of five francs. It chanced at 
this time that an American war steamer was riding 
out at anchor floating the stars and stripes. He 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 445 

related the incident himself with much complacency 
one evening at the dinner table of the Mediterranean 
Hotel in Jerusalem. Said he: "When they told me 
the charge was a dollar for a man just writing his 
name on that document, I just told them I wouldn't 
pa}- it. Then the officer said I couldn't have the pass- 
port and that made me hot. I took him by the shoulder 
and turned him round with his face to the old 
Mediterranean sea, and asked him if he re-co^r-nized 
the flag that floated from her masthead. That, said I, 
is the flag of Uncle Sam, e pluribus unum requiescat in pace, 
wherever that flag floats there is liberty, and don't 
you forget it! Now give me my passport." He gave 
utterance to this bombastic speech as though it were a 
praiseworthy act. " I frightened the A-rab so that he 
handed it back to me and it never cost me a nickel. 
No, sir-ee, I don't mean to let any of the heathen get 
away with me — not if the court knows herself." 

To show you that this is not an overdrawn picture, I 
quote from the "Handwriting of God," page 118. 

"Just upon the opposite bank lies Gizeh,from which 
these p3 T ramids are named, with a ferry at the upper 
end of the town. As we approached this, Hassan, who 
had been quite silent during our three miles' ride, again 
approached me, ' Got change to pay de boat?' 'Yes, 
how much will it be ? ' Eeducing English currency to 
federal money, as I shall generally do — 'Fifty cents, 
sah. Gib you me de money ; I make de bargain for de 



446 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

boat; I know 'em best.' 'Fifty cents! It costs no 
fifty cents to get ferried over the Nile.' 'How much 
you pay? ' ' Don't know,' said I. 'All de gemmen he 
pay fifty.' ' I don't believe a word of it,' said I. 
Hassan walked a few rods in silence. ' You gib me 
twenty-five cents, I make de bargain for boat.' 'I 
shall not pay the half of twenty-five, and I choose to 
make my own bargains.' The deceitful rascal knew 
that I could not understand Arabic, and he had calcu- 
lated upon making a few dimes out of me by the 
ferriage." 

The third incident that came under my notice, and 
one that exasperated me not a little, occurred a few days 
later in the museum at Bulak. We were under the 
guidance of our especial dragoman Ismail, much in- 
terested in the wonderful objects contained in this 
matchless old curiosity shop. In the midst of a lec- 
ture in front of the "Village Chieftain," an American 
woman accompanied by her husband, who gave unmis- 
takable signs that the " gray mare was the better nag " 
stepped up in front of us and at once began to pro- 
pound questions to Ismail and monpolize the time for 
which we were paying pretty liberally. I attempted 
to head her off with all the strategy I possessed, but 
she was a match for old strategy himself. At length, 
out of all patience, I stepped into an adjoining room 
and signed to Ismail to follow me. There the pent up 
fountain of my wrath broke forth. " Who pays you 




The Village Chief 

Museum of Bulak. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 447 

for this," I hotly demanded, " the brazen outfit that 
you have been entertaining for the last half hour so 
glibly, or I ?" His shining countenance fell from blood 
heat to zero, and he apologized, as only an oriental can, 
with a step backwards, and a low salaam, not in the 
villainous lingo of the Arab Hassan as above quoted 
for no Arab talks that way. "I' beg your pawden 
Connel," he said in the most approved English, " you 
pay me, but I thought they were your people, and you 
would like me to talk to them, I will do it not any 
more.' ; When we returned to the Chamber of the 
Mummies they were in waiting ready to get the first 
peep at Rameses II., but a word whispered by 
Ismail to the keeper had the desired effect. The ad- 
mittance to the museum is free, but a look at the Phar- 
aohs means backheesh. I confess I was more than 
disgusted when this burnished pair of brass andirons 
turned away without showing the color of their money. 
These are not isolated cases but, can be doubly dis- 
counted by some travelers whom I have heard talk, 
and they were not commercial travelers either. 



CHAPTEK LII. 



SUEZ CANAL ISMALIA BY RAIL TO CAIRO EGYPTIAN 

COSTUMES. 



Leaving Port Said, the morning after our arrival, in 
one of the swift little steamers that attend to the local 
traffic on the Suez Canal, we reached Ismalia a little 
before noon, where we were to take the train for Cairo. 
The canal, for quite a distance, skirts Lake Menzaleh 
— a shallow body of water extending on the west to 
the Mle, and believed to have covered one day the site 
of several ancient cities. Then it cuts a passage 
through the sand hills of the desert until it strikes the 
Balah or Date Lakes, emerging from which it leads on 
through the desert to Lake Timsah, or Crocodile, on 
the northwest shore of which is located the once thriv- 
ing city of Ismalia, whose decline was occasioned a 
few years ago by a fever epidemic, the result of defec- 
tive sewerage. As a winter resort for invalids, up to 
that period it was supposed to have no equal. 

The canal runs through the lake, then cuts into the 
sand hills, again until it reaches Old Bitter Lake, 
which it traverses throughout its entire length, then 



FROM NILE TO NILE. ' 449 

makes a final cut through the sand to its termination 
in the Gulf of Suez. Its entire length is about one 
hundred miles. In width it varies from one hundred 
and ninety-five feet to three hundred and sixty feet at 
the top, but with an actual width of channel at the 
bottom of only seventj-two feet, with a depth of 
twenty-six feet. 

We passed several large British vessels returning 
from India, running quite slowly in comparison with the 
speed attained by our little cutter. To avoid the wash 
of the waves on the banks of the canal, which would 
be destructive to them, these large vessels were not 
permitted to keep up their usual rate of speed. A 
large force of men and camels are now at work on this 
commercial highway, widening and deepening the 
channel in places, and building a stone wall to protect 
the embankment. 

It is generally believed that a canal connected the 
Mediterranean and Eed Sea in ancient times. When 
Napoleon was here he had the route surveyed, but his 
engineer reported to him that the Eed Sea was thirty- 
three feet higher than the Mediterranean, and he 
pursued the matter no further. It remained, however, 
for another Frenchman to prove the utter fallacy of all 
previous calculation of which we have any record, 
although other engineers who had taken measure- 
ments, reported the feasibility of constructing a ship 
canal. In 1858 M. de Lesseps undertook the work and 



450 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

prosecuted it successfully, throwing it open to the 
traffic of the world in 1869. 

It is said to have cost ninety-five million dollars, 
and the money expended by the Khedive in festivities 
amounted to no less a sum than twenty-one millions of 
dollars paid out of the private purse of Ismail Pasha, 
the Khedive of Egypt, who afterwards paid the penalty 
of his prodigality by being forced to sell the British 
bondholders his stock in the canal, amounting to 
thirty-one millions of dollars, for less than one-half 
the amount it cost him. In one year (1883) the tolls 
amounted to over thirteen millions of dollars, showing 
what a profitable investment it has been to foreign 
shareholders, and accounting in some measure for the 
indefatigable display of energy with which Monsieur 
de Lesseps pursued his purposes in the face of diffi- 
culties such as no man has had to encounter, in the 
construction of the Panama canal. 

We took the train for Cairo about noon — a mixed 
train, with one first and second class coach, a cattle car, 
and two or three open cars no better than our average 
stock cars, but with a double row of benches through 
the center facing each other, for the natives to ride in 
at a rate suitable to their means. For a few miles out 
we ran through the hot sandy plains of the desert, then 
struck a canal that conducted the water hither all the 
way from the Nile, and the balance of the way our 
route led through a broad level plain, much of it tilla- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 451 

ble, and, if not in growing crops, was being inun- 
dated, preparatory to the work of planting. 

Some fields were already drj r enough for the plow, 
and it would have made a Sedgwick County farmer 
contented with the old John Dere walking plow he 
brought with him from Illinois and abandoned years 
ago for a sulky, if he could have seen the farmers, or 
fellahin, as they are here called, driving a yoke of 
humpbacked cattle attached by a yoke to a long wooden 
beam with a crook in it roughly shod with a three- 
pronged iron and fitted with handles. This was the 
plow invented five thousand years ago, and in the land 
of the Nile it has never been superseded. 

It is not always necessary to tickle the ground with 
the plow to produce a luxuriant crop. I noticed a 
number of fellahin in the mire up to their bare knees 
shoving a block of wood by a long handle back and 
forth on the yielding surface. Their movements puz- 
zled me, and I inquired of the dragoman what they 
were doing. His brief but convincing reply was " sow- 
ing beans," and this method is pursued likewise in 
sowing wheat and barley. 

The chief wealth of Lower Egypt is in its agricul- 
tural resources. Comparing the cultivable area, which 
is less than that of the state of Kansas, with the teeming 
population, six hundred to the square mile, it is evident 
that the land must be taxed to the utmost to support 
its inhabitants, and at the sametime produce corn and 



452 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

cotton in such vast quantities as to constitute Egypt 
the most formidable rival the United States has in the 
markets of Europe for these products. 

Much as I had heard of the productiveness of 
Egypt, I was hardly prepared to see the vast fields of 
cotton in which men, women and children were at 
work gathering in the crop, nor the immense acreage 
of corn, and if it was not cotton or corn, then it was 
durra, or sorghum, as we call it, which is not raised 
for its saccharine qualities, but for the little tuft that 
grows at the top of the stalk containing, when ripe, 
the seed. This furnishes the staff of life for all the 
lower order of human beings I have met with in the 
Levant. It may not be generally known, that meal 
made from the sorghum seed produced so bountifully 
in the Sunflower state, makes a batter cake worthy to 
transplant in the affections of the people, the degen- 
erate buckwheat cake of our daddies. 

Land is too valuable here to devote any considerable 
portion of it to grazing, and yet a great many cattle, 
goats, sheep and asses, besides camels and horses are 
raised — principally on what a western farmer would 
allow to go to waste on the farm. All the straw is 
saved and being chopped fine forms the principal food, 
along with corn and durra stocks, of the animals I 
have named. The Nile mud is, as a rule, the only 
fertilizer bestowed on the land, although the rubbish 
heaps of defunct cities furnish a strong fertilizer, when 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 453 

properly applied. All the fields in the territory over 
which we passed are dotted singly, or in small groves, 
with the date palm, and thus an extra crop of consid- 
erable value is produced at little or no expense, and 
from their peculiar growth, being without limbs or 
foliage except the spike shaped formation springing 
from the top, causes no detriment to the growing 
crops. The villages, which are numerous, consist of 
a collection of mud huts similar to those of the Pueblo 
Indians in New Mexico. 

At two places on the route I noticed a vast concourse 
of people w T ith donkeys, camels and oxen, and an odd 
array of home productions — vegetables, dates, limes, 
fowls, goat and sheep skins, sugar cane, trays of cakes, 
bags of cut straw and " fuel," and all the odds and 
ends of which the farm traffic of this country consists. 
I was told that it was market day, and in an open 
space adjoining one of their wretched villages the 
neighboring farmers had congregated to swap "wealth." 

Of course the entire population here outside the 
large cities is Mohammedan, and as long as they cling to 
their faith they will be just what they are now, a su- 
perstitious, improvident and non-progressive people. 

It is claimed for them that these traits of character 
will in time disappear, and that the natural docility 
of their disposition, their temperate life, and indus- 
trious habits, would advance them to the front rank of 
that vast proportion of the human race, engaged for a 



454 FROM NILE TO 1 NILE. 

livelihood in agricultural pursuits, if the land laws 
were amended, and taxation reduced and systematized 
on an equitable basis. Now my intelligent dragoman 
tells me this is just what is being done, in a limited 
measure. 

The land laws of Egypt differ so widely from our 
own, that a brief statement in relation to them may 
not come amiss in these pages. The great bulk of the 
farming lands belongs to the government, but is leased 
to the fellahin for life. They can mortgage or sell 
their lease subject to the approval of the government, 
and after death the heirs of the leaseholder can renew 
the lease upon payment of a specified registry fee. 
Trees planted by the leaseholder or improvements 
of any description, are regarded as personal property. 

Up till quite recently the taxes were so oppressive 
as to render the occupation of tilling the soil not only 
unremunerative to the fellahin, but decidedly discour- 
aging and grinding in its effects. 

In fact, so little respect was paid to the rights of the 
producing classes, that the tax-collectors regarded them 
as their lawful prey, and with no other warning than 
the hawk gives to the doomed bird, would swoop down 
upon them and strip them to the bare necessaries of 
life. 

In bleeding Kansas, the farmer grudgingly (and no 
one blames him), pays a tax ranging from two to four 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 455 

per cent on a one-third valuation after an exemption 
of two hundred dollars to heads of families. 

In benighted Egypt the farmers have been forced to 
pay eighty per cent of all the} T produced, and at such 
times, frequently, as made it an increased hardship. 
The present government under the advice of European 
financiers, is in some degree ceasing to " muzzle the ox 
that treadeth out the corn," but no radical reform may 
be looked for in any eastern country so long as the 
enervating religion of Mahomet furnishes the civil 
as well as the moral code of laws that govern. 



CHAPTER LIII. 



GRAND CAIRO. 



We were about five hours iu making the run to Cairo 
and, but for the intense heat and choking dust, would 
have enjoyed the trip immensely. However, the day 
following, there was a marked change in the tempera- 
ture, which continued mild and pleasant during our 
entire stay. We took up our quarters at Shepheards 
Hotel, which some writers have spoken of slightingly, 
but we found no cause for complaint. The fact is, its 
superiority over any other hotel we patronized on this 
trip, from the time we left London, without an excep- 
tion, was so marked as to merit our heartiest encomiums. 
All connected with this house are English, except the 
chambermaid, and they are Arabs of the male gender. 
I did not know this until we unexpectedly happened 
into the room and observed what, at first glance, 
appeared to be rather a " long waisted old lady," with 
her head under the canopy netting, arranging the 
sheets. I will not soon forget the consternation 

depicted on the countenance of Mrs. S when the 

cranium was withdrawn, and the white skirted in- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 457 

dividual revealed the features of — well, suppose we say 
" an eunuch." 

The appointments of this admirable house are what 
one might look for, in the land of dates, but scarce ex- 
pect to find. The parlor is fitted up in true oriental 
st}de, with divans, Persian carpets and rugs, and orna- 
ments from various parts of the Dark Continent, as 
well as the land that lies still further east in the true 
Orient. 

The reading and smoking room possessed comforta- 
ble chairs, convenient writing desks, and tables spread 
with many English papers of latest date procurable, 
and a so-called American paper published in Paris. 
Here all that was necessary to supply the wants of an 
indulged appetite was to touch a little button within 
reach, and anything that the wine cellars of France or 
the bottling establishments of London afforded, was 
produced at a moment's notice. Remember this is 
Grand Cairo, a spot from whence genii and fairies have 
never been banished, hence if a man called for. any 
brand of wine it was but the work of a moment to 
produced it. The butler had but to refer to his alpha- 
betical list of labels select the right one, and clap it on 
a bottle filled from a cask marked red wine, or white, 
as the order demanded. I am told that this feat of 
ledgerdemain is not so prevalent here as in other 
places frequented by English and Americans. 



458 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

The cuisine, while it included the ubiquitous poulet 
and saladi, contained variety enough to satisfy the 
hunger of an amateur fisherman, the puny appetite of 
a dyspeptic, or the much abused, repellent stomach of 
a pilgrim from the lesser Nile. 

The first meal we partook of was a seven o'clock 
dinner, spread in the open court yard, with the fleecy 
clouds scudding overhead before the incoming northern 
blast, that was to make life once more endurable. 
Tropical plants, shrubs and trees, cast fantastic shadows 
around us, and the fall of the heavy spray from the 
fountains lent the additional charm of music — the 
music of falling waters. 

I wish I could characterize our chamber on the first 
floor (upstairs) as worthy of equal encomiums. It 
happened that our windows looked diagonally across 
an open space into the English soldier's club room. 
Every night seemed to be given up to banqueting and 
untamed revelry. Just about the time I was getting 
my ideas together for a letter to the Eagle or dropping 
off into a much needed repose pandemonium would 
break loose. 

Charles Lever at his best, never put the Irish 
Dragoon in a position where the flowing bowl was 
provocative of the same amount of jollity to the par- 
ticipators, and disgust to one who was with them in 
spirit, but in inclination and habit a thousand miles 
away, as at these moments he wished he was, de facto. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 459 

There was a piano in the room somewhat super- 
annuated, in appearance I apprehend, and as 
excruciating in tone as an old fiddle in the hands of a 
beginner. It was thumped incessantly, and as the 
club grew more and more hilarious, its discordant 
notes were only exceeded by the inharmonious voices 
of men in an energetic effort to keep up with the pro- 
cession in the chorus of a drinking song, followed by 
an immense applause when the agony of the effort was 
over. Now that is what I call soldiering — a conclusion 
I venture to say, that will not be disputed by the 
fighting element of any army. 

If there were no museum of Bulak, no pyramids, no 
Sakkarah, no relics whatever of antiquity at Cairo, 
still there would be attractive features enough in this 
remarkable city to repay one for the time and money 
spent in traveling hither. It is as good as a circus to 
take a seat on the broad piazza of the hotel and watch 
the strange street scenes that are daily enacted in the 
metropolis of all Africa. One may watch the incess- 
ant stream of people move by in the great thorough- 
fares of New York, London and Paris without being 
excited to any unusual degree of interest. The same- 
ness of attire and the orderly manners of the passers 
by convey no novelty to the eye, but here in Cairo 
the very reverse prevails. 

Groups of orientals in turbans and long gowns, and 
usually barefooted, stand around and talk in such an 



460 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

excited manner that a resort to blows seems imminent, 
but this is a way they have, and is far removed from 
belligerency. Two Arabs will approach each other, 
perhaps not having met for twenty-four hours, and sa- 
lute by the customary sign and with a low salaam, fol- 
lowed by kisses on the cheek thrice repeated. 

On broad benches in front of shops or cafes, you will 
see them sitting cross-legged, sipping coffee, and mean- 
while applying to their lips the amber mouthpiece of 
the hose-like attachment to the pipe, which rest on the 
ground and is called a shibuk, or more commonly nar- 
gileh or water pipe. I was induced to tamper with 
one of them, but found it would be necessary, if 
I wished to obtain satisfaction, to apply a mustard plas- 
ter to the back of my neck to assist the draught. 

Cairo is not yet sufficiently modernized to have adopt- 
ed any system of street railway to assist rapid locomo- 
tion, but European hacks and cabs are quite numerous, 
though they have not yet fully succeeded in driving 
out the cheap and delightful little donkeys, with their 
patient owners, who follow in the rear once they have 
secured a patron, armed with a stick to accelerate 
speed and, no matter how fast one is inclined to ride, 
they always keep pace with the nimble feet of the 
long-eared quadruped. The saddles have a peculiar 
shape in front about the pommel, resembling a hump, 
which is invariably of red morocco. As compared to 
a Jerusalem donkey, they stand in about the same re- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 461 

lation as a pacing horse does to a rough trotter. At 
all hours of the day you will see be-turbaned and be- 
fezzed individuals, some of avoirdupois equal to the 
donkey itself, gliding swiftly through the streets, the 
long gowns worn by them presenting the appearance 
of a woman riding astride, and, by the way, that is the 
attitude the female riders of the Orient assume, the 
side-saddle being an abomination to them. 

But connected with this subject of street locomotion, 
the strangest sight to my eyes, and one that is pecu- 
liarly oriental, is the avant courier, who, bare-legged, 
with short gown and richly gold embroidered jacket, 
and long uplifted stick, runs on foot in front of car- 
riages containing ladies of the harem, or persons dis- 
tinguished by rank or wealth. The runner, who is of 
the type mentioned in a former chapter, is good for 
twenty miles, it is said, and I have seen them so fre- 
quently, sometimes in pairs, keeping ahead of swift 
trotters, and yelling to all persons on the street to make 
way, that I am convinced of its truthfulness. 

There seems to be no scarcity of brass bands in 
Cairo ready to turn out and play on every small 
provocation. This is the season for the return of the 
pilgrims from Mecca, to which very great importance 
is attached by all Moslems, for it is one of the cardinal 
principles of their faith, that requires every believer 
in the prophet to make a pilgrimage once in his life 
in person or by proxy to the Caaba, or sacred "Square 



462 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

House," at Mecca, a custom in vogue with Arabians 
long before the days of Mahomet. This event, both in 
the departure and return of the pilgrims, is celebrated 
with considerable pomp, and here is where the brass 
band paragraph applies. I have witnessed no less than 
three processions in one day, preceded by the noise of 
braying mouth pieces, a necessity which seems indis- 
pensable wherever men form in line, except at funerals. 
Following the band is a chorus of singers, who chant 
the off repeated aphorism " La ilaha il Allah," 
"Mohamed Resoul Allah." " There is no God but God, 
Mahomet is the prophet of God." Then mounted on an 
ass attended by admiring friends and relatives, the 
returned pilgrim who henceforth has the title of Hadji 
affixed to his name, parades the streets to his abode in 
the proud consciousness of his having terminated a 
journey, fraught with fatigue, suffering and danger, 
and faithfully discharged one of the most onerous 
duties exacted by the tenets of his religion. Hence- 
forth, come what may, he will be honored by his 
countrymen, and when his earthly career is ended, he 
will be received into that paradise where Gabriel 
stands at the gateway and neither Christian, Idolater 
nor Jew can enter. 

The funerals, which are of frequent occurrence in a 
city such as this of four hundred thousand inhabitants, 
are likely to engage the attention of foreigners, as they 
partake immeasurably of the grotesque to the unfamil- 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 463 

iar eye. In those I have witnessed, the body of the 
adult was carried concealed in wrappings crosswise on 
the back of a donkey, preceded by a picturesque body 
of Arabs on foot, chanting verses from the Koran, 
whilst the mourners and friends of the deceased fol- 
lowed on foot or mounted, uttering their sad lamen- 
tations. I noticed three funeral processions where the 
deceased were infants, in which the same order was 
observed, except that the remains were carried on the 
head of a stalwart pall bearer. 

The street hawkers are quite numerous, crying out 
their wares in a blood curdling tone that is indescriba- 
ble. Beggars form a considerable element in* the pot- 
pourri I am mixing up, and the street Arabs — a desig- 
nation we have imported into far-off America — offer to 
shine your boots, or run errands, but when not thus 
employed stretch themselves at the base of a wall or 
along side of the curbing and go to sleep. Neither the 
fleas, mosquitoes, nor the warm rays of the sun, seem 
to exercise a disturbing influence on their slumbers. 

The bazaars of Cairo are celebrated the world over, 
and here one gets the truest conception of oriental life 
to be had anywhere. They are situated in a portion 
of the oity given over entirely to trade. One can 
spend hours and days here and never become satiated 
with the sights he beholds ; but it is well enough, 
in order to feel that you are not an intruder, to go 



464 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

with a well filled purse, and then use it to some ad- 
vantage. 

"Whole streets, properly alleys, are occupied by one 
branch of industry, say shoemaking, for instance ; and 
here you are tempted to invest in Moslem slippers, 
sharp pointed and turned up at the toes, made of red 
or yellow Morocco, lined inside with the same material. 
Three francs a pair will make you the possessor of all 
that the limited storage at your command will permit, 
much as one might wish to take each of his friends 
a souvenir of this description. 

Then there is a street devoted to the manufacture 
of hammered brass goods with raised and chased 
figures, of quaint oriental design, for purposes of or- 
nament and utility. Ostrich eggs, old coins, antiques 
from ancient tombs, Indian and Persian wares, every- 
thing in fact that Asia and Africa produces in the line 
of human skill may be found here. In the more mod- 
ern parts of the city European wares are offered for 
sale — in fact you can find almost anything here that the 
shops of Paris, London and Constantinople contain. 
By far the largest portion of the city is laid out with 
wide streets, good sidewalks and handsome buildings, 
and the gardens and open spaces ornamented with 
trees and fountains make Cairo, in my judgment, a 
most delightful place to live in during winter. The Eu- 
ropean population exceeds twenty-five thousand ex- 
clusive of English officers and soldiers who are seen 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 465 

everywhere, the Egyptian army being largely officered 
by the former. I am told that the European society 
here is well organized, sociable and high class. The 
influx of visitors in the winter months is of con- 
siderable volume, many invalids coming hither hoping 
to be benefitted by the thermal springs of this locality, 
and the dry atmosphere of the great Libyan desert that 
stretches out in a great waste of sandhills to the west- 
ward from the pyramids — a nine mile drive from the 
city. 



30 



CHAPTER LIV. 



MUSEUM OF BULAK THE TWO NILES POEM BY COL. 

M. MURDOCK THE PHARAOH OF THE OPPRESSION. 



Cairo is located on the east bank of the ISTile, south- 
west a few miles from the commencement of the delta. 
It dates from the tenth century only. What is known 
as old Cairo lies to the southwest a short drive, and 
under the name of Fosdat was founded in the seventh 
century. Bulak, formerly an outlying suburb on an 
island of the Mle, and the port of entry for Cairo, now 
forms an important part of the city, and here our drag- 
oman, Ismail, set us down at the Egyptian museum, 
which contains the most valuable collection of antiqui- 
ties of this country in existence. Before availing my- 
self of the privilege of entering this vast storehouse, 
containing relics of a period so remote that no contem- 
poraneous history, save only that chiseled on imperish- 
able granite, gives any account of them, we directed our 
footsteps to the low wall that encloses the premises, 
and beheld for the first time the sacred river of the an- 
cients, which in majesty and power rolled its mighty 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 467 

current in a swift and boiling flood to commingle its 
tawny waters with the deep blue of the Mediterranean. 

The distinction of first recognizing in the great Ar- 
kansas river a likeness to the Nile of Egypt, which 
some, perhaps, have thought far-fetched and preten- 
tious, belongs exclusively to the editor of the Eagle ; 
his poem, " The Nile of America/' having not only 
christened it as such for all time to come, but having 
likewise bestowed a title upon its chief city, that, long 
after the readers of these pages have passed over the 
silent river will maintain the cognomen of the Peer- 
less Princess. Sometimes one obtains a glimpse of a 
face that startles him by its resemblance to one that 
long years ago passed from earth, or was at the mo- 
ment thousands of miles away. Such was the im- 
pression created on tcij mind when I looked across the 
Nile to the yellow sands on the opposite shore, fringed 
with a narrow belt of timber, and almost shrieked to 
my wife: "Look at the Arkansas!" The banks are 
fully as low, the water the same color, and just as 
swift, with that swirling, rotary motion observable in 
the Arkansas when the June rise is on. Even the 
great Nile bridge that rests on the numerous piers was 
in plain sight to help on the illusion. Nile of Amer- 
ica? I should say so. 

But the resemblance does not altogether cease here. 
It is a well knowm fact that beneath the sands of the 
Arkansas Valley, through which this river courses, 



468 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

bearing the flood from the greatest mountain range in 
America, just as the Mle carries off the flood from the 
greatest range in Africa, there is a constant sub-cur- 
rent of water, that nourishes the roots of corn no mat- 
ter how dry the season, and for eighteen years 
has made it possible without a break, so far as drouth 
alone is concerned, to produce a crop of corn. The 
resemblance is striking when one is reconciled to the 
difference between the overflow of a river that insures 
a crop, and the under flow that in a limited measure 
produces the same result. By permission of Colonel 
Murdock, I present with great pleasure for the delec- 
tation of my readers, the poem inspired by the coy 
muse of the Eagle Eoost long years ago. 

THE NILE OF AMERICA AT SUNSET. 

A vast and lonely reach of boundless Yet to Be, 
Whose wind swept swells roll wide in mute immensity, 
Lies this sombrous sweep, a rhythm of ubiquity, 
Tristful, silent and treeless. 

Held 'neath Winter's gray gloom, a pensive unvexed sea; 
Loosed by Summer's bright bloom, a blithesome beryl lea; 
For aye, to all, a dumb, absorbing entity — 
Sheer, tense, nude and limitless. 

The gift of rifts and of the pine's sensuous sigh, 
Its weary wanderer, with low and plaintive cry, 
In murky swirls and shallows, goes eddying by — 
In and out and meaningless. 

Tears of a desert's dirge gleaming 'mid prairies green; 
A turbid tide from the realms of the Toltec's dream; 
A trailing woe blindly coursing the great Gulf Stream, 
From out encircling vastness. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 469 

O'er these weird perplexing leagues of unchained rounds, 
The wild, huge-backed cattle, of the Builder of Mounds, 
Roamed, grazed and multiplied, restrained by metes nor bounds 
In rolling herds and countless. 

From this wide-spread altar, the Red Man's oblation 
Of wreathing incense and mystic incantation, 
Wafted the Great Spirit a propitiation 

For burning deeds and shrift less. 

'Neath the night's pale lights, here by ancestral graves, 
Recounted were mighty deeds, of bold swarthy Braves, 
And whispered woes and wrongs, borne by women-slaves — 
Lo ! Passion's anamnesis. 

By these white, dewless margins of light drifting sand, 
The plumed devotees of a weary Spanish band, 
Lit their bivouac fires, tracing in " The Silent Land " 
Coronado's Nemeses. 



The umbra of losel years shroud those scenes of yore,- 
Vanished are the Spaniard's hope and Cibola's lore, 
With the " seven cities " and all their golden store 
To forgotten remoteness. 

'Tis eventide once more. The brilliant god of day, 
Midst s^ft opalescent glories resigns his sway, 
And sinks in a mirage of diaphonous gray, 
Rueful, wan and lusterless. 

'Neath the shelter of an island's lissome willows, 
Still warily watching for his meed of minnows, 
A gaunt crane, far away from his native billows, 

Stands poised in quaint grotesqueness. 

In the faint-fretting ripples of a bar hard by, 
Flocks of wing-weary geese, in wild discordant cry, 
Lave and plume as they heighten and intensify 
Their solitude's deep fastness. 

Lamenting winds sweeping on from mountain to sea, 
Regretfully sigh for the stream's lost pageantry, 
Yet, anon, in exulting strains of ecstasy 
Of its metagenesis — 

Of a prouder life, of an imposing city, 
Of a Peerless Princess, the child of destiny ; 
For the Nile of the Occident, a history, 
The promised metathesis. 



470 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

Fades the dream of Egypt's stream with ages hoary, 
And pales the dull flow of Africa's dark story, 
In this presence, this Quivari's cloudless glory, 
And pledged epigenesis. 

And o'er this truant tide, which, sealed to classic song, 
Has, since time was born, in dull neglect, rolled along, 
The Star of Empire beckons on its happy throng: 
KaDsas' Palingenesis. 

In the garden of the museum is a large array of 
monuments, statues, and sarcophagi, and here also is 
the tomb of the great Egyptologist, Mariette Bey, the 
discoverer of many tombs and antiquities, and the 
founder of this world-renowned museum. His useful 
career was cut short in 1881. The relics to be seen 
here are in perfect order, so that there is no difficulty 
experienced in satisfying the inquiring mind as to the 
exact locality in which they were found. About every- 
thing here displayed has been taken at some period 
from the tombs, which, being hermetically sealed, with- 
stood the ravages of time for a cycle commencing be- 
fore the flood. 

The custom of the early Egyptians was to bury with 
their dead (and some tribes of American aborigines 
had the same custom) small images of porcelain, bronze, 
gold ornaments, and imitation beetles, called scarabse, 
fowls, small animals, and many of the products of the 
soil were mummified, and thus preserved until this day. 
The mummies were first placed in wooden coffins, or 
in coffins sometimes made of layers of linen glued to- 
gether and compressed. At the tomb of Sakkara I 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 471 

found a piece of the latter larger than my hand and an 
inch thick, plainly showing the linen threads that were 
spun at least three thousand years ago. 

Some of the statuary that graces the court yard of 
the museum through which we passed dates back to 
the Greek and Roman occupancy of Egypt before 
Christ, but there is one huge figure in red granite of 
Usertesen I., that goes back over four thousand two 
hundred years. There are numerous sphinxes here, 
containing inscriptions commemorative of kings who 
lived in the fifteenth century B. C. 

The inside of the museum, which consists of eight 
apartments, has everything classified and arranged in 
such a compact form as not to tire one in having to 
wander over a vast space, as in the British Museum. 
For the time being we commune with the relics of a 
civilization greater than we can comprehend ; that 
goes back to a period when even sacred history presents 
a more mystical page than what has been w T ritten with 
fingers of steel on these tablets of imperishable granite. 

Besides a vast array of statues, statuettes, and mon- 
uments, there is a number of specimens of wood 
Carving, the most remarkable being that of the Village 
Chieftain, to my mind the most expressive piece of wood 
statuary I have ever seen. Think of a specimen like 
this carved more than three thousand years ago out of 
a cypress log, with every feature as skillfully cut in 



472 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

wood as the modern artist would create a model in 
clay. 

Here are wigs that were worn by an Egyptian queen 
eleven hundred years B. C. In the three thousand 
years that have followed, the sex has never been able 
to so regulate fashion as to make a bald-headed woman 
attractive. 

But passing the multitude of cabinets, show cases, 
pedestals, and shelves loaded with antiquities, we en- 
ter a room that contains probably the most unique and 
valuable collection of natural curiosities extant. First, 
there is an array of empty coffins that once held the 
remains of royalty. Further along is another array, 
not of coffins alone, but of the actual remains of kings 
of a period so remote as to carry no real conception 
with it of the flight of years. The custodian removes 
the cover and reveals to us in its original coffin the 
mummy with features exposed of Thotmes II., who 
ruled Egypt sixteen hundred years B. C; of Seti I., 
the father of Barneses the Great, and the mummy of 
Barneses II. himself, of which the accompanying litho- 
graph is a correct representation. He is the same who 
oppressed the children of Israel. These mummies 
have only been brought to light in the last six years, 
although they were known to Arab grave robbers as 
far back as 1871. 

From time to time antiquities of great value were 
offered for sale in Cairo, which led to suspicion that 



r 



$ 




M 




ummyofR ameses [, 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 473 

the lost tombs of the ancient kings had been at last 
discovered by some parties who were working them as 
a rich mine. They were found to emanate from Luxor, 
which lies contiguous to the ruins of Thebes, and here, 
through a fine piece of strategy, related at length by 
Colonel Wilson, the royal sepulcher containing the 
mummies, of which the above mentioned, together 
with the many valuables remaining untouched, were 
brought to light and secretly conveyed to Cairo. 



CHAPTER LV. 



THE NILOMETER MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUES CITADEL 

COPTIC CHURCH THE HOWLING DERVISHES 

THE RETURN FROM THE CAABA. 



Our next drive was to the embowered island of 
Roda, but in order to reach there we had to dismount 
in rather a filthy neighborhood, and walk to the ferry, 
where we crossed the arm of the Nile in a lateen 
rigged sail boat. It was somewhere along here, Ismail 
said, that tradition located the finding of Moses in the 
bulrushes. 

The principal attraction here is the Mlometer, a very 
deep square well, lined with stone, containing a pas- 
sage reaching to the water. In the center of this well 
is a pillar marked like a thermometer to denote the 
rise or fall in the river. When the water reaches a 
certain mark which it does usually in July, the 
Khedive is notified. The embankment is cut, amidst 
universal plaudits and jollification, and the inundation 
from the sacred river by which an abundant harvest is 
promised is thus inaugurated. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 475 

The drive to the citadel, which occupies a position 
overlooking the city, but not commanding it, Avas of a 
quite enjoyable nature from the fact that our route led 
through broad paved streets humming with Oriental 
life and giving us a view of that portion of the city 
inhabited by the wealthy and considered, I believe the 
European quarter. We passed without stopping to 
examine its interior, a huge partially completed 
mosque erected entirely at the expense of the 
Ex-Khedive's mother. 

A little further on we halted and dismounted at the 
ancient mosque of Sultan Hassan, about which some 
marvellous tales are told. For example, it is related 
that the work when completed in 1356 was considered 
such a marvel of beauty and elegance that the Sultan 
ordered the hands of the architect to be cut off in 
order that no duplicate should rival it in splendor. I 
tried my best to feel impressed with its greatness, but 
the effort was a dismal failure. 

It is said that by the falling of one of its minarets, 
in the throes of an earthquake, three hundred persons 
were killed. Another of its minarets towers up tall, 
slender, and graceful to a height of nearly three hun- 
dred feet, the remarkable feature about it being, as it 
is claimed, that it is the highest minaret in the do- 
main of Islamism. 

The grade leading up to the citadel is quite steep, 
but when the summit is attained one leaves it with 



476 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

reluctance, for the elevation affords one of the finest 
panoramic views to be found on this mundane sphere. 
The eye travels over an immense area covered with 
buildings, thickly studded with mosques from which 
arises a multitudinous array of minarets appearing 
like smoke stacks of a vast manufacturing city whose 
energies lie dormant. The absence of the cloud of 
smoke that usually rests over cities of much less 
magnitude than this, was wholly wanting ; and so the 
vision extending, beyond the limits of modern possi- 
bilities, and taking in, with its comprehensive sweep, 
the Nile, that like a huge tawny serpent lay basking in 
the rays of the morning sun, rested and went no 
farther than the three strange conical shapen mounds 
in the distance, erected by humanity ages and ages 
ago, when the site occupied by this grand city lying at 
our feet, was tilled by order of Joseph to serve the 
purpose of the Omnipotent in producing such an 
abundant supply of cereals that in the years of a 
universal famine the lives of a chosen band of His 
people in far off Canaan, where gaunt starvation con- 
fronted them, should, in his own unquestioned way, be 
preserved. 

Standing on the parapet of this handsome fortress, 
the exact spot was shown us where Amin Bey leaped 
from these walls on his well trained steed to the depths 
below — a distance of sixty feet, and escaped the fate 
meted out to four hundred and seventy of his comrades 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 477 

who had been entrapped in a narrow way leading to 
the citadel, and slaughtered with as little compunction 
as though they had been rabid dogs. 

This occurred in 1811 and forever ended the power 
of the Mamelukes, a dynasty that sprang from slaves 
of Caucasian birth, ruling the destinies of Egypt for 
more than five hundred years with varied success. 

Before leaving the citadel we direct our steps to the 
Mosque Mohammed Ali. We subsequently visited 
other mosques, but none that could compare in 
grandeur to this. It is said to resemble the mosque of 
Sofia in Constantinople. Inserting our feet in goat 
skin slippers we effected our entrance by paying a 
small fee. We found the interior to be square with 
small domes upheld by beautiful alabaster columns. 
The floors were handsomely carpeted and lamps rich 
in appearance and of unique design swung from the 
ceiling. 

Devout followers of the prophet were squatted on 
the carpet, some in apparent idleness, others reading 
the Koran. The vast amount of alabaster used in the 
construction of this temple is simply wonderful, 
exceeding in quantity all of the precious stalagmite 
that my eyes had before beheld. 

In old Cairo we paid our respects to the Mosque of 
Amr, constructed in the fourteenth century. Its 
columns, nearly four hundred in number, are of 
marble. Two columns standing together have about 



478 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

the same celebrity as a pair that stand in the Mosque 
El Aksa at Jerusalem, of which it was said that none 
but an honest man could pass between them. In this 
instance the Khedive has walled up the interstices and 
destroyed the test. 

The open court, which contains in the center a 
fountain, and near them two trees, is about two hun- 
dred and fifty feet square. In one corner is the tomb 
of Abdallah, the son of Amr. Here are shown two 
pillars believed by the faithful to have been myste- 
riously transported through the air from Mecca just as 
Mahomet was transported to heaven and thence back 
to earth on his miraculous steed. 

It is said that as late as the year 1800 a miracle in 
answer to prayer was performed here. It appears that 
at the expected time when the Nile should have 
attained its periodical height, the water in the channel 
began to fall. This produced great consternation in 
the minds of all the residents of Cairo, and so without 
regard to nationality or religious belief the men rushed 
to the sanctuary in the confines of this huge misshapen 
edifice and besought the Lord to withhold not the 
customary rise. While they were yet pleading, the 
Nilometer, close by, began to indicate an upward ten- 
dency of the water that ere long was verified by the 
exact amount needed to produce an exceedingly boun- 
tiful harvest. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 479 

As we passed through it the dust lay half an inch 
deep on the floor. Ismail said it is occupied but once a 
year, it being the custom to meet here annually, since 
the above incident occurred, to pray for the customary 
rise of the Nile. 

Another time we drove to Old Cairo, through narrow 
streets, where two vehicles could not pass each other. 
Dismounting, we walked to an ancient looking edifice 
— the Coptic church of St. Mary — and were admitted 
by a sprightly young Egyptian to the interior. This 
has the reputation of being the oldest Christian church 
in Eg}^pt. The Copts, who lay claim to being the di- 
rect descendants of the ancient Egyptians, worship 
here according to their peculiar form of religion, which, 
travelers say, is a mixture of Christianity and idolatry. 
The basilica was small and mean looking, and the 
painted pictures, over which some have raved, in keep- 
ing with all we saw here. 

Looking through a peep-hole in the partition that 
separates the priesthood from the laity, we were told 
that the altar we discerned occupied the self-same spot 
where the Virgin slept with the infant Jesus. The 
guide lighted a wax taper and conducted us down a 
dark stairway, where the Nile water had found en- 
trance to the depth of four feet. " Here in this crypt," 
said the guide, " the Virgin and Child were concealed 
for many days." It was necessary to qualify this state- 



480 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

ment by the assurance that this occurred at a season 
of the year when the cellars were not flooded. 

No one goes to Cairo without making an effort to 
witness that weird, demoniacal performance of the 
howling and dancing dervishes. A few years ago their 
fanatical exercises included the heathenish act of 
throwing themselves on the earth in a uniform, compact 
rank, in which position they were ridden over by men 
mounted on horseback. This custom, however, has 
been discontinued by order of the Khedive. 

I feared that we should not have our curiosity 
gratified in beholding any part of these outlandish re- 
ligious rites ; but Ismail was equal to every demand 
made upon him, and so one day, with his honest, 
swarthy countenance beaming with smiles, he made 
the announcement to us that, that day, Friday, being 
the Moslem Sabbath, he would take pleasure in con- 
ducting us to a mosque in Old Cairo where we could 
witness the worship of some dervishes of the howling 
order. 

Driving some distance over a broad smooth road, we 
at length halted in a narrow lane, and then made our 
way through a garden to what seemed, on account of 
its seclusion, to be a private mosque. 

A word from Ismail to the doorkeeper admitted us 
without the usual slipper requirement. The dervishes, 
with unshorn beards, and long disheveled locks, were 
just forming the half moon rank ready to commence 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 481 

operations, when we took our seats twenty feet in the 
rear. From Ismail I learned that not all who partici- 
pated in these weird exercises are by any means of 
that exclusive sect known as professed dervishes. Any 
one who desires to do an act of penance to mortify the 
flesh, as it were, usually seeks this convenient way to 
ease his conscience. 

Mrs. S inquired of Ismail if he had ever stood 

in the ranks and howled. " Yes, lady," he replied with 
a far away look in his eyes, " twice did I do it, and 
once did I faint." On this occasion the ranks which 
were full, contained some who by the paucity and 
awkwardness of their motions and the faintness of 
their howls indicated the amateur doing penance. 

I was amused by one of the penitents in particular. 
He was evidently a Turk, and was dressed in European 
clothes except the fez. He could neither keep the mo- 
tion nor howl in unison, and he continually cast his 
eyes to where we sat, with a look on his face strongly 
suggestive of self-disgust. 

The leader in this unique performance that was soon 
to follow, intonated in a high tone of voice with a me- 
tallic ring, passages from the Koran to which the inev- 
itable response : "La ilaha il Allah," was made in 
chorus. 

The officiating priest was a young sheikh in long robes 
who at no time during even the wildest moments that en- 
sued, exhibited any excitement, though deeply interest- 

31 



482 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

ed in every matter of detail. When the leader ceased 
intonating, they each nttered the Arabic word Hu 
(He, that is, G-od), first uttering the word slowly, then 
increasing by regular gradations faster and faster, with 
three motions of the head from right to left and back 
again, a motion of the hands and a bend of the knee 
— the dervishes keeping perfect time, and continuing 
in this manner so long, that I expected every moment 
to see numbers of them swoon away. The most fa- 
miliar sound I can compare with the noise they made 
is that of the starting of a buzz-saw. It is not a howl, 
it is a hundred times more soul harrowing than the 
most excruciating howl that ever went up from the 
muzzle of a lonesome dog on a moonlight night. 

At times this bazoo chorus is assisted by an infernal 
noise produced by thongs of leather, beaten on flat 
drums, and rendered even less tuneful by the squeaks 
of a reed flute. Then the motion of the body and^the 
head is again varied and the buzz utterances change 
to a deep guttural sound, the eyes of the devotee are 
closed now, the face is pallid and utter exhaustion 
seems inevitable ; but the side motion is again resumed, 
the buzz-saw whizzes likewise, but weaker and weaker 
grows the sound — flesh and blood can stand no more — 
the priest comes forward, makes a sign and the sacrifice 
to appease an offended G-od is consummated. 

Near the citadel, called the place Rumeleh, occur 
annually the ceremonies connected with the departure 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 483 

in the spring and return in the fall of the caravans to 
Mecca. We were so fortunate as to witness the latter 
in all its pomp and grandeur. The procession was 
quite as imposing as the queen's jubilee. For four 
miles in the streets leading to the large open square near 
the citadel was a mass of humanity, the red fez, white 
turban and gowns of many colors, presented a kaleido- 
scopic view not seen outside of oriental countries. 

First came a band numbering about fifty instruments, 
preceded by three men on camels, followed by a 
battalion of soldiers in white uniform. Next came a 
battery of six guns carried on the backs of camels, 
then a troop of mounted infantry on camels. A band 
playing followed next, and behind them came the 
guards of the royal pavilion, and crowding close 
around them a motley crowd of howling dervishes. 
There were perhaps one hundred large flags and ban- 
ners in the procession, but they were switched off before 
reaching my place of observation. 

Next, the camel advanced, glittering with a gold 
bespangled cloth that covered a canopy perched on the 
camel's back, on which are hung costly stuffs and two 
copies of the Koran, in their significance representing 
the royalty that accompanies the caravan by proxy. 
Bringing up the rear was a long string of camels 
bearing men on their backs, who incessantly hammered 
on a rude kind of drum or made discordant noises with 
wind instruments made of sugar cane. 



484 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

In the center of this unique cavalcade rode the ruler 
of the Empire — the Khedive, Tewfik. He sat in an 
open carriage attended by three of his ministers of 
state, raising his hand back and forth to his head as is 
the custom of the Moslems, in returning the salutes of 
the multitude, who received him, not with the plaudits 
that resounded in the ears of Queen Victoria from her 
own subjects, but with a strange guttural sound, indi- 
cating, amongst these peculiar people, supreme rever- 
ence and satisfaction. He wore no insignia of royalty, 
and might have been taken for a black bearded 
European, save for the distinguishing mark of the red 
fez. 

Arriving at a given point, the procession disbanded 
amid salvos of artillery. 

We spent a half day in visiting the tombs of the 
Mamelukes, which are contiguous to, and south of, the 
citadel, and the so-called tombs of the Caliphs, lying 
some distance to the northwest. 

Many of these tombs are contained in dome-shaped 
mosques and are the homes and loafing places of a vast 
number of the faithful, who seem to have nothing to 
do but to read the Koran and recite their prayers. 
The monuments, in some instances, are costly and ele- 
gant, but somewhat gaudy in embellishment. While 
they are one of the main attractions of Cairo, yet a 
person does not care to linger here, unless time is no 
object. 



CHAPTER LVI. 



HELIOPOLIS THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH THE SPHINX. 



We drove out one day past numerous palaces, fine 
gardens, and through beautifully shaded avenues, to 
the site of the ancient Heliopolis, or City of the Sun, 
called in the Bible the City of On. Here stood the 
temple of Ra, the great sun god of the Egyptians. A 
priest of this temple once had a lovely daughter named 
Asenath. It occurred to Pharaoh that it would be a 
fine stroke of policy to wed her to his prime minister, 
a handsome young Jew, who had resisted all the 
blandishments bestowed upon him by his master's wife, 
Mrs. Potiphar. 

We are now in the land of Goshen, where this amia- 
ble youth, who had suffered all the wrongs that could 
be inflicted by a revengeful, disappointed nature en- 
dued with a little power, realized, as he lay in prison, 
the truth of the adage, not yet born, " that hell hath 
no fury like a woman scorned." 

Like all stories with a moral, Joseph lived to reap 
the full fruition of the trite saying that "virtue begets 
reward," as well as the adage that "virtue is its own 
reward." The author was pointed out the spot a few 



486 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

miles westward from here, and not far from the ruins 
of ancient Memphis, where legend relates that several 
years after the scene recorded in the Bible, and faintly 
alluded to above, had occurred, Mrs. Potiphar again 
intercepted Joseph, now in the zenith of his fame, and 
full ripeness of his manly beauty. Herself once the 
most beautiful woman in all the domain of Rameses, 
but now, alas, a mockery of physical beauty, she up- 
braided Joseph as the cause of her eyes having lost their 
lustre, her cheeks the bloom of the peach, and her form 
the voluptuous fullness that lent grace and beauty to 
every movement, and once enshrined her in the heart 
of her noble lord — but now, through her unrequited 
love for him, she had pined away until no longer did 
she find favor even in the eyes of a once devoted hus- 
band whose honor she had sought to compromise. 

Joseph did like any other sensible man would do 
under the circumstances, maintained silence until she 
was through — then whipped up his mule and left her 
to live on in remorse. 

All that remained of Heliopolis is a fragment of 
wall and a superb red granite obelisk, sixty-six feet in 
height. It marks the sight of the temple and has 
escaped mutilation and for a wonder has never been 
presented to any foreign government. Returning from 
here we stopped at a garden and saw that remarkable 
old tree where tradition says the Virgin and Child 
took refuge in a hollow recess of its mighty trunk, and 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 487 

that a spider concealed the aperture with his web. 
Two Arabs here wrangled for thirty minutes of our 
stay, as to who should receive the backsheesh, 
amounting to about five cents. Such a war of words 
and angry gesticulations I have but seldom witnessed 
— one swearing that by the beard of his grandfather 
the other was a thief and a dog, the other calling on 
Allah to send blindness and fever on the family of the 
first. Our dragoman, who interpreted the billingsgate 
for us, exercised his own judgment in bestowing the 
trifling coin, but we left them hard at it. I have seen 
at least a dozen quarrels amongst the Arabs, but only 
on two occasions did they come to blows and then 
struck only with open hand. 

Of course the pyramids are the great attraction that 
serves as a loadstone to draw visitors from many a for- 
eign shore. They commence about nine miles from 
Cairo, on the west side of the Nile, and border the 
Libyan desert for a distance of twenty-five miles ; but 
in these pages I shall take no notice of any except the 
three lying nearest to Cairo, called the pyramids of 
Gizeh, and the step pyramid of Sakkara, standing 
about ten miles further south. We crossed the Nile 
on the splendid iron bridge, whose four corners are 
surmounted by colossal lions of bronze, thence nearly 
the whole way to Gizeh the road runs on an embank- 
ment thickly shaded by the interlacing branches of 
the acacia tree. 



488 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

As we arrived at the base of the largest pyramid, 
called Cheops, for whom it was built as a tomb three 
thousand one hundred years B. C, a swarm of Arabs 
gathered around us, eagerly offering their services to 
assist us in mounting its giddy summit. I selected 
three assistants for myself and four for Mrs. S., and 
with oozing courage we allowed them to seize our 
hands. Fortunately, they spoke English so as to be 
understood, and without much ado my fellows took the 
advance. 

At first I was inclined to help myself; but as we 
slowly progressed, and the exertion began to tell on my 
wind and muscles, I abandoned all self reliance and 
allowed them to earn their money. When about half 
way up I called a halt. I am not ashamed to confess 
that I was exhausted, and wanted a few moments to 
recover from the faintness and palpitation of the heart 
which had seized me. 

My right hand helper assured me that he was a 
" doctor," and straightway began to deluge me with 
water carried in an earthen bottle by the booster, or 
man who followed behind. The effect was magical, 
and after one more brief breathing spell, I stood on 
the top of the tallest pyramid gazing downward at the 
party who had Mrs. S. in tow, who presently planted 
her feet along side of mine, apparently none the worse 
for the venture. 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 489 

We spent about thirty minutes on the summit, from 
which an enviable view of all the surrounding 
country is obtained. To the east is the Nile valley, 
much of it now submerged, but still a picture that calls 
out expressions of enthusiasm. Northward, the same 
aspect greets the eye ; southward, the date palms 
appear in the density of a forest. Westward, what a 
strange contrast! The desolation of the grave is here, 
spreading out in the wavelike sand hills reaching to 
the bounds of the horizon — the great Libyan desert in 
which there is neither life nor hope. 

The present perpendicular height of this pyramid is 
four hundred and fifteen feet. The steps vary in 
height from two and a half to four feet. The perpen- 
dicular surface of these steps is not smooth granite, as 
I supposed, but enormous blocks of limestone crumb- 
ling away here and there like alkali bricks in some of 
our walls. There is room on the top of this pyramid 
for quite a large pic-nic, the surface being something 
like thirty-six feet square. On the soft limestone that 
at present crowns the summit, thousands of tourists 
have cut their names, those of English and Americans 
predominating to the almost total exclusion of all other 
nationalities. 

The descent was made in a hurry, but for two or 
three days afterwards we felt the effects of it in our 
limbs to such an extent that locomotion was painful. 
Of course we went into the long, low and narrow pas- 



490 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

sage that leads into the tombs in the center of the 
pyramid, but the close noisome air permitted only 
a brief stay. First, you reascend the pyramid on the 
outside about fifty feet, then crawl into a hole three 
and one-half by four feet and slide downwards sixty 
feet, then you crawl up about one hundred and twenty 
feet. This brings you to a lofty room seventeen feet 
square called the queen's chamber. It is now for rent. 

Groping your way back for some distance, you 
observe by the flickering light of a tallow dip another 
inclined plane. This is the grand hall that leads to the 
king's chamber, which is double in size that of the 
queen, and is vacant like that, excepting a sarcophagus 
minus the lid. After one has " done " Cheops he has 
lost all interest in the other two, and nothing remains 
for us to investigate except some outlying rock tombs, 
which we also omit, and the sphinx. What superb 
mausoleums those ancient Egyptian kings constructed 
in which to preserve their mummied remains a period 
of four thousand years, when, according to the belief 
they held, the body would again be reinhabited by the 
return of the absent soul. Think of the kings who lie 
in state at Bulak waking up, when the four thousand 
years have [expired, to the humiliating knowledge 
that for seven hundred years previous their bodies had 
been exhibited in a museum at half a franc a head. 

The " doctor " had all along been pestering us for 
the sake of more backsheesh to use his camels for the 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 491 

short ride to the Sphinx, and, as novelty, like variety, 
is the spice of a tourist's life, we closed the bargain at 
three shillings for the round trip. The first camel 
brought forward and got into position for mounting 
was for Mrs. S. At first she was afraid the camel 
would bite her, but being assured that he was as harm- 
less as a dove, she at last plucked up courage and took 
her seat, being bidden to hold on tight to the u hand- 
les" of the saddle. The camel makes a pyramid of 
himself as he rises on bis hind feet first, that pitches 
her over on his neck. Then, as he brings his fore legs 
to the perpendicular, she settles back and feels at 
home. 

The dismounting is even worse, but the excruciating 
gait of the humped backed animal is the worst of all. 
Poetically he is described as the "ship of the desert." 
To my mind, after a single test, I can compare him 
only to a ship in a storm. I mounted with the same 
grace and elegance as my better half, and the caravan 
began to move. I thought if I only had an extra 
hinge in my back. I could endure the torturing gait 
for perhaps a mile. My wife said hers rode easily, and 
then I began to suspect that I was on a freight camel. 

We viewed the Sphinx and the temple of red gran- 
ite blocks from our exalted position, and as the fea- 
tures of the Sphinx are as familiar to every school boy 
as those of G. Washington, I will not attempt a de- 
scription, further than to remind you that when cleared 



492 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

of sand this colossal figure, with the head of a man 
and the body of a recumbent lion, looms up to the 
height of sixty-six feet, with a breadth of face meas- 
uring thirteen feet, and a nose, before the iconoclast 
got in his work, projecting over five feet. The temple 
is the work of Chepren, who built the second pyramid, 
and he was successor of Cheops. This concluded our 
delightful visit to the pyramids of Gizeh. 



- 







CO 

co 

UJ 

< 



CHAPTER LVIL 



STATUE OF R AMESES II. THE SITE OF MEMPHIS — SAK- 

KARAH CONCLUSION. 



The next day we took the train and rode for forty 
minutes to the station of Bedreschein, where we« 
mounted the little donkeys brought with us in a car 
from Cairo, and followed the meanderings of an em- 
bankment for two miles, which brought us to the spot 
where the colossal statue of Rameses II. had but re- 
cently been exhumed from the sands of the desert by 
an English officer. 

There are, in fact, two statues of Rameses the Great 
here ; one carved out of a solid block of limestone, and 
the other, and much finer one, from what I took to be 
sandstone. The former, but less artistic, was pre- 
sented, as it lay on its face in the sands, to the British 
Museum some years ago; but in consequence of its 
great weight the attempt to remove it has never been 
made. The one of sandstone is enclosed by a wall, 
and a fee is exacted for a view of it. It is in a reclin- 
ing position, the legs broken off, and measured when 
intact, I should judge, fifty feet in length and six or 
eight feet across the face. Whilst not of as huge pro- 



494 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

portions as the Sphinx, it is a much finer work of art. 
I am indebted to the wife of the officer who has the 
credit of raising this mammoth statue from where it lay 
twenty feet beneath the sands for the photograph of 
this massive antique statue, of which the lithograph in 
this book is a correct copy, as none was obtainable in 
Cairo — only copies of the limestone statue as it lay on 
its face for many years. 

Near by is the site of the ancient city of Memphis, 
*once the most populous city in the world. Its public 
buildings only were constructed of stone, and this ma- 
terial has been transported elsewhere to build other 
cities ; so that now, whilst the sun dried bricks of Nile 
mud still retain in some degree their shape, and the evi- 
dence that a vast city once existed here is quite plain, 
there is nothing to indicate the spot where Memphis 
stood, except heaps of rubbish. This most ancient of 
all the cities of Egypt of which history gives any ac- 
count, was founded by Menes more than five thousand 
seven hundred years ago, or within less than three 
hundred years of the period assigned to the creation 
of man. 

Leaving the rubbish heaps of the defunct city, we 
push on for a distance of three miles and reach the 
great step pyramid, which differs from all others in 
being somewhat oblong, and not standing squarety 
facing the different points of the compass. It consists 
of six steps, each six feet wide and ranging in height 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 495 

from twenty-nine to thirty-seven feet. The stones are 
not so large as in Cheops and have disintegrated much 
more. The entrance was closed up, and so we con- 
tinued the journey to the burying ground at Memphis 
— a region so vast in ancient tombs cut in the rock, 
and when explored so replete with curiosities, as to 
constitute the necropolis called Sakkara, the most won- 
derful subterranean area in the known world. For 
ages these tombs, now covered for the most part with 
the shifting sands of the desert, have yielded a rich 
harvest of relics to every explorer who has had the 
perseverance to court success, and yet the supply is 
not exhausted. 

The only sign of life visible is a solitary house in 
the sands built by the great explorer Mariette Bey, 
where the custodian of certain tombs, taken possession 
of by the government, leads a lonely life, and where 
tourists, if at all provident, consume the lunch thej^ 
have brought with them. 

We first descended to the tombs of the sacred bull. 
Apis, and were conducted through wide, lofty passage 
ways, sixteen feet wide and twenty-six feet high, cut 
for probably five hundred feet into the solid rock. 
Here were thirteen chambers each containing a com- 
plete granite sarcophagus of exquisite workmanship 
and large enough to contain the remains of the sacred 
bull when mummified, in an upright position. By aid 
of a ladder, I climbed into one from which the cover 



496 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

had been partially removed, and its sides were as 
smooth as polished marble. It was by actual measure- 
ment thirteen feet long, eight feet wide and eleven 
high, weighing, it is estimated, sixty tons. 

tl When Mariette," says Stanley Lane Poole, " opened 
this amazing city of dead bulls, he found one vault 
which, for some reason or other, had escaped the vio- 
lating hand of the treasure-seeker, and there in the 
mortar was the impress of the finger of the mason 
who had set the last stone in the reign of Rameses II." 
before the birth of Moses ; there in the dust were the 
imprints of the feet that had last trodden the floor three 
thousand and more years ago ; there were the votive 
offerings dedicated in the sacred vaults by visitors who 
have been dead since nearly twice as long a period as 
we are distant from our Era — among them a tablet from 
Rameses' own son, high priest of Apis, and one of the 
chief dignitaries of the time of the oppression of 
Israel. 

It is not wonderful that when the great explorer set 
foot in his tomb, which had remained inviolate for 
thirty-five eventful centuries, he was overwhelmed and 
burst into tears. When the Prince of Wales was 
here these passage ways were brilliantly illuminated, 
the numerous tripods which served as candle sticks 
being suffered to remain, in the same manner as a tri- 
pod erected on the top of Cheops by the American 
pasha, General Stone, has remained there for six years ; 



FROM NILE TO NILE. 497 

the object of its erection being to give one a true con- 
ception of the original height of the great master-piece, 
in the science of tomb building, of all ages of the world. 

Leaving this subterranean passage, we repaired to a 
tomb of a different design, originally built on the 
earth's surface, but covered with sand until exhumed 
by Mariette. This style of tomb is known as the 
mastaba and this one was the mausoleum of Ti, cham- 
berlain to one of the Pharaohs who reigned over Egypt 
four thousand five hundred years ago. We approached 
it by a passage on the right hand side, of which the 
walls were covered with characters chiseled in the 
facing of the smooth rock surface, on the left were 
pillars giving it the appearance of a temple in ruins. 

We were ushered into the tomb chamber, a square 
lofty edifice where Ismail introduced a brilliant light 
the more effectively to show off the treasures contained 
on its walls — a gallery of paintings and sculpture as 
fresh and perfect in all respects as though placed there 
yesterday, yet two and one half times the age of the 
Christian era has rolled around, since the hand that 
outlined them in red chalk, that sculptured them on 
enduring stone and colored them with pigments whose 
brilliant colors had come to stay, was warm with the 
blood of life. 

Talk of the old masters of four hundred years ago ! 
In comparison, they- are but the artists of yesterday. 



498 FROM NILE TO NILE. 

This is the epitome, in a double sense, of the manners 
and customs, of the civilization prevailing in that early 
period of the existence of the human race. 

A striking picture is that of the butchers preparing 
to throw an ox by the side of one already slaughtered. 
Another one that would do credit to Johnny Crapaud, 
is a man surrounded by a flock of geese ; he has one by 
the throat, putting it through the "stuffing process;" 
still another represents shipbuilders at work, with the 
style of tools used five hundred years before $"oah 
completed the ship he had undertaken, which went to 
pieces on Mount Ararat where relics of it could be 
seen as late as eighteen hundred years ago, according 
to that careful historian, Josephus. There is nothing 
in the domestic life of the people of that day that is 
not illustrated here. 

It is a grand study for any one who in this respect 
desires to see pictures on the walls after viewing those 
at Pompeii. These are simple and chaste, but they 
have opened up a page in the world's history that may 
only be a sample of an undiscovered volume, of pre- 
historic life. After lunch, we looked the field over for 
relics, and then remounted the donkeys for the railway 
station. We took the first train that came along, 
which was a freight train, but we reached our hotel in 
time for the evening meal — our last dinner in Cairo, 
and the final meal of which these pages will bear any 
record. the end. 









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